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Author's Notes: I apologize for the late chapter. I've been having fun with my new, shiny bout of writer's block! Plus I've been reading another fan fiction. A very long one at that – Digital Skitty (his ffnet username anyways)'s “Pedestal”. Suggest giving it a shot while you wait for more of my amazing story. =p

[[Chapter 8: Pop goes the Volkner]]

The trio of Volkner, Gardenia, and Jasmine was walking away from the busy city of Hearthome, yet Volkner was the only one who felt something unique – a sort of loneliness that he had never felt before in his life. It wasn't a romantic loneliness, it wasn't a loneliness for friendship... it was... well, he didn't quite know the words.

It felt as if he were leaving his destiny behind; a blue haired teenager called Cyrus. A piece of his heart was with him, and he meant it in the least homosexual way possible. But it was as if the Gods themselves had plopped him right down next to Cyrus for a purpose, he just couldn't figure out what this purpose was.

The speaking of a woman annoyed him out of his thoughts.

“... Excuse me?”

Okay, it was a little girl. He recognized it now to belong to Bebe, the girl who's Eevee she had saved the previous day.

He turned around with the rest of the group and found himself a bit worried (he himself couldn't believe that either) at the sight of such despair in her hazel eyes. An Eevee was in one hand, being walked, while the other hand had a Pokeball in it.

“Go on,” she said, extending her hand to Volkner. “This here is... well, he was recently born. I don't want to part with him so soon, but I think it's best... he's an Eevee. I want you to train him, Mister Denzi.”

Gardenia and Jasmine looked to him expectantly – as if they expected him to take it or something. He scoffed, and turned around to begin to walk off. That was, until she said something to him.

“Eevee can grow strong, you know. They have seven different possible evolutions. He would make a great addition to your team...”

He immediately turned around and swiped the ball from her extended hand. She smiled at this, nodded and began to turn.

Gardenia looked at him like he had grown a third eye; Volkner knew she had already assessed him to be a cruel, cold-hearted bastard when he hadn't healed Chuseph as quick as she would have liked. He had done that solely to shock her and throw her off.

Right?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Gardenia's real concern lay with the fact that he HAD accepted the Pokemon. He had shown some appreciation for once in his life, but that was likely because he had also just received a rare and potentially powerful Pokemon just for a little running around a city.

She worried deeply that he would abuse the poor little newborn, and so she would enforce it strictly that if he were to go off on his own, the Pokemon would be in her care. She brought the subject up now.

“Volkner,” she said. “I understand why ya took the lil' guy, but make me a deal here. I'll 'low ya to go off on yer own when we're in towns, but the lil' guy goes with ME when you do.”

He was surprisingly agreeable to that.

“Sure,” he muttered. “Why the hell not?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The group traveled swiftly to the route east of Hearthome, heading toward the next destination on the map, Solaceon Town: town of the Pokemon Daycare, newspaper station, and ancient ruins. Three different things to interest three different people.

Jasmine was interested in the daycare. She had always been a one for raising Pokemon, as she could befriend even giants like her Onix.

Gardenia was always a sucker for the press. She wanted to check out the workings of the building.

Volkner had Mana on his mind. He had let the spectacle of last night go as to not inform Gardenia or Jasmine just what had happened to him, but he wanted to see if Ancient Ruins in Sinnoh had been the reason he had been dropped here; probably not, as the nagging feeling in his heart told him, but he would see.

His train of thought was interrupted when an odd figure skidded across the dirt in front of them, taking an almost shy pose. The girls giggled at this, finding it amusing. Volkner just wanted to move past this stranger and go on, but he stood up and straightened himself off, blocking their path.

He was about five foot three in height, and looked around their age. His head was covered in a tangled mess of green hair like the vines of a shiny Tangela, this covered by a white hat with a black rim. His clothing was a simple combination of a navy blue hoody and a pair of jeans, and his feet were covered by a pair of black sandals.

“... Sorry 'bout that,” he murmured. The group struggled to hear him, drawing in closer. He flinched sheepishly at this, but allowed them to get close enough – even doing the courtesy of speaking a bit louder for them. “I just wanted to get close before you guys ran out of the way... nearly fell on my butt, though...”

Gardenia was the one to step forward and nod her head, still stifling laughter. “It's okay,” she said. “Is there something you wanted from us?”

“Yes,” the oddity of nature admitted. “I was up in the trees, looking for my Caterpie – I did find her! – and then I saw you guys pass by. I just felt...” As he spoke, he reached toward the belt around his waist, clipping off a ball from it. “... like I wanted to battle, you.”

The pause was for his other hand to lift up and point to Volkner.

“The hell?” Volkner questioned. “Why me?”

The man shrugged. “You just look like someone I'd enjoy battling.” Oddly enough, when he said this, a small glint was evident in the man's gaze. He shrugged it off. “By the way, my name is Jordan Summers. Yours?”

Volkner nodded and continued with a sigh. “But I suppose I don't have much of a choice, do I? Fine. We'll battle.”

Jordan grinned widely at this and extended the hand with the Pokeball in it, thumb over the release switch. He seemed to be awaiting Volkner's move.

So Volkner would oblige him. “Let's go, Chuseph!”

“C'mon out, Maggie!~”

Two flashes of red light occurred, and in the central point shared between both competitors, two Pokemon were formed.

The name was perhaps the single most uncreative thing Volkner had ever heard in his life. Only his Chuseph came in at a very close second; at least it had some creativity to it, no matter how slight.

Maggie was a Magnemite. A small hunk of circular stainless steel with a white circle in the center, where a single dot rested like a pupil in an eye. Just below this white circle were two screws, while another screw rested atop its head, slightly protruding. Two horseshoe magnets extended from it, one on each side.

Chuseph, of course, had evolved recently. He was now a good bit bigger, two stubby arms extending from his body. On his cheeks were two circular splotches of red, just below his black-button eyes. His ears were pointed, tipped in black His tail was shaped like a lightning bolt.

The two electric Pokemon stared each other down intensely, Chuseph on all fours and emitting a low, “Chuuuu...”

“Very much so, Mister Summers,” he responded. He was smiling in spite of himself.

“First command goes to you, Mister Denzi,” Jordan said. His smile still remained, never having faded.

“Fair enough,” Volkner said. He was, in all honesty, a bit apprehensive about this because he knew that Chuseph had no non-electric attacking moves. He knew nothing about this Magnemite, and though for the moment it appeared as if they were on equal terms because both were of the same type, it could easily pull out a non-electric move and slaughter Chuseph. “Chuseph, Sweet Kiss!”

Chuseph moved toward Maggie in leaps and bounds, before finally planting a simple kiss against the Magnemite's “cheek”. This quickly caused more than Volkner thought it would: it confused the Magnemite like it was supposed to, but it went haywire.

It darted around the area in a circle, buzzing its loudest, before falling to the ground right on its “face”. It lifted up again, shook itself like a wet dog, much to Volkner's awe (he didn't think such a thing was possible of a Magnemite), then awaited its master's command.

“... Okay, then,” :Jordan said. “Gravity, Maggie!”

It worked past the mild confusion of the Sweet Kiss, and began to work its magnets together. Once the tips touched, everyone in the area felt suddenly heavier; the Pokemon even more so. Chuseph cried out in shock.

But in the proccess, the Magnemite was pulled down to the ground.

“Stupid move, Summers!” Volkner said. “Chuseph, Volt Tackle!”

Chuseph began to run forward as fast as he could under the invisible pressure, his entire body surrounded by an electrical yellow aura. He leaped slightly off the ground just moments before contact – and was frozen.

Against the gravity, Magnemite was rising into the air and carrying Chuseph with it. A couple of seconds later, though, Chuseph was screeching out in surprise as a silver ball of energy burst forward from the two magnets touching together, and his struggling was no more.

Grimacing, Volkner returned Chuseph to switch him out with Elekid.

Elekid clashed his hands together excitedly, his face showing slight signs of strain from the gravity in the area: but he wasn't going to let it get in his way, obviously, as evidenced by the fact that he jumped from side to side with his fists barred like a boxer.

“Alright! Cross Chop, Elekid!” Volkner commanded, and the yellow creature with prong-ears responded all too eagerly. He ran forward and leaped up toward the Magnemite, barely managing to reach its height but managing it all the same. He crossed his arms over each other in x-formation, before releasing them, striking the metallic skin of Maggie with an unrivaled strength.

“... A critical hit,” Jordan murmured. Magnemite had fallen. Jordan returned it, and switched in his next Pokemon – or tried too, anyway.

“Go Gallade!” a voice screamed, and Volkner recoiled, turning around to see the face of his kidnapper back in the Valley Windworks. He froze and then heard his ears pop, as the green and white Pokemon dashed forward and grabbed him by the hand, before disappearing into the day; Volkner alongside him.

Flint ran a hand through his thick red hair, turning around to look at the kind old woman who had sheltered him through the night's storm, and had even been as kind as to let him sleep-in and eat a Brunch with her. She was such an awful worry wart, though... he sighed, and nodded to her.

“Yes, ma'am! Thanks for letting me stay with you, and for letting me take a few things. I promise I will come back here some day and pay you back!” Flint called out.

The kind old woman simply smiled and waved. “Don't worry about it, dear. Good luck.”

Flint waved back, turning around once again with his Magmar out at his side. “Alright, Mags!” he said cheerfully. “We'll jog for half an hour, then rest. Should be plenty excersise, right?”

“Marrrr!~” Mags responded cheerfully.

And so it would be done, the two of them turning back to wave one more time to the kind old hostess, before they began to jog off into the forest.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Notes(END): Sorry for the lack of length. I feel it best to cut off here. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Please don't hesitate to drop in a review.

Though probably obvious with the picture, I was formerly known as IanDonyer. Actually got a username closer to my real name, now.

The second "Pichu" should be "Pikachu." Though I do wonder what the pre-evolved form of a pichu could be. Prolly pi.

LOL MATH JOKE. Kinda.

Gardenia of Eterna Gym followed him, a hand firmly placed on his shoulder, looming over him like an angry Salamence.

I think the tag "of Eterna Gym" is a bit unnecessary. We already know who Gardenia is by now. Not unless this is a hint at something and there's five more Gardenia's about to pop up.

Anyway, interesting chapter. I liked your mechastarly ... thing. It was a creative way for Volkner to get around that pesky pokedex while still learning necessary information. It was also nice to see Volkner's mindset during battle -- his attitude toward pokemon as murdering creatures really shone through, and I'm glad to see that it offended both Lily and Gardenia. Lily was developed well, even though I think she won't be appearing any time soon (if any time at all). I also think Gardenia will make an interesting opposite to Volkner in terms of pokemon trainer. I think her and Cyrus balance out the rasher Volkner. She's easily becoming my favorite character, though I do like everyone you've added so far, faults and all.

I'm also glad to see that there were ramifications for Chuseph using Volt Tackle. I was a bit wary when I got to that point (I assumed that the pichu wouldn't get hurt, or something), but I'm glad to see I was like, like always.

Chapter six review:

I liked the odd chemistry between Volkner and Gardenia in this chater, with Gardenia's fear and Volkner's skepticism/annoyance with Gardenia's fear. It was amusing to see tough girl Gardenia pretty much faint at the first sight (or sound) of ghost, and then Volkner's panic, followed by his brilliant idea.

“I don't want to do anyone any favors! I don't want to train, I don't want to remember Ivan's death, I don't want to travel, I JUST WANNA GO HOME! JUST LET ME GO HOME, PLEASE!” he sobbed.

I wonder who said this, the ghost or Volkner (I assume Volkner). If it is Volkner, I wonder who this Ivan person is. Perhaps his death is why he's so rash? D:

The scene with Jasmine was interesting. I've read a few fics where she always seems to be getting into some sort of trouble with some sort of strange person, then she mumbles something weakly, and then she kicks ***. It's very ... her, if that makes sense. I liked how sweet and humble and calm you made her, even after what she went through.

My only concern with this chapter was Chuseph, who I know was injured pretty badly in the last chapter (broken arm and whatnot). He didn't seem to be too hurt in this chapter (at least there was no acknowledgment of limited or no movement in the broken arm), which I found a little fishy. Though interesting to see him involve into a pikachu. They involve with happiness, don't they? So maybe the little bugger wanted to be a battler all along ... or really loves Volkner despite Volkner not really loving him back.

Chapter seven:

It was a unique smell, Volkner thought as he lay awake in his bed. The smell of hospitals, a clean and fresh scent always having that underlying stench of rot and sickness. He had no idea how he had gotten to a hospital, but he knew he was really tired of having to be in one. This was about his third time this month.

His daredevil antics really needed to stop.

Haha, for real. Was gonna comment on how half of this fic so far takes place in a hospital. XP

He knew for certain that a Pichu was not supposed to evolve unless it felt intense kinship to its trainer, or extreme happiness of its situation. Chuseph was not supposed to have evolved – ever. Volkner did not intend to make friends with his Pokemon, to be fatherly to them. But here was proof that he somehow did it anyway, the cute little mouse Pokemon.

Oh, boo. You read my mind. =P

Gardenia would perform the duties of any female at the sight of a crying comrade. Comfort, support, and be an overall annoyance to any stoic traveling partner. And in this case, Volkner was said traveling partner.

GOD DAMN IT.

Loveeeee it. =P Especially how random the "god damn it" was centered and italicizing for some reason, haha.

Anyway, more funny moments between Volkner and Gardenia, along with character development of Gardenia's part. I like all the different "faces" you're giving her, from her sharp tongue with Volkner to her motherly, nurturing role with girls in despair. Volkner was enjoyable to read as always with his annoyance with catching Kiki. I'm also glad that Jasmine joined the crew, but I am going to miss Cyrus. He really did balance the other two out with his calm and logical manner, though I suppose Jasmine is just as calm. Still, I hope he makes an appearance sooner or later, whether as a friend or not. And ooh, the mysterious Mana appears. Liked how you threw that it at the end.

You know, I don't think I ever commented on it, but I really like the way you introduce canon characters. I never really thought of them meeting, let alone connecting, the way you make them, but it really, really works well. The dialogue between them is believable, along with their personalities, which were pretty skimp to begin with (at least game canon-wise). I really can see them intermingling and becoming friends/acquaintances/rivals/enemies. Fun stuff.

Curiously, though, what made you choose these characters anyway? I guess I can rationalize Gardenia as she is a resident of Eterna, and Volkner landed around that area. But why Volkner? Or Cyrus? Or Jasmine (though I think I can piece that together, I'm just not sure how to word it correctly)?

Anyway, onto chapter eight!

Chapter eight:

I liked the introduction. Again, it illustrated the dynamic between Volkner and Gardenia well, though I am wondering when we get to see some dialogue between Jasmine and Volkner. I know he had a side thought of her being cute but being too annoyed to initially flirt with her, so I'm wondering if he's going to treat Jasmine politer than he does with Gardenia, or in the same, annoyed way. Or flirt with her. I think this is a JasminexVolkner fic, no? Er, back to my main point, I liked the narrative (well, I always like your narrative) and Volkner's thoughts back to Cyrus. I miss the guy, too, in a non-romantic, non-friendshipy sort of way.

Mysterious stuff in this chapter. Random trainers jumping out of trees to chase down the group, and then Volkner being kidnapped by a gallade, followed with a scene with Flint. I thought the battle was done pretty well -- it wasn't bogged down with detail and was quick and snappy, as I expect battles should be.

On a random note, I like that you have people call each other "Miss ____" or "Mister _____" lately. Them times seem so much politer. Sigh. =P

Good chapters! I actually do like the length of your chapters; they're in nice, bite-size pieces that seem to end at the perfect spot. I never got that feeling that your chapter was skimp or "too much" (where you try to throw all this plot or character development/introduction). It's just the right amount. For me anyway. =P

The second "Pichu" should be "Pikachu." Though I do wonder what the pre-evolved form of a pichu could be. Prolly pi.

OH CRAP. Thanks for pointing that out...

LOL MATH JOKE. Kinda.

I think the tag "of Eterna Gym" is a bit unnecessary. We already know who Gardenia is by now. Not unless this is a hint at something and there's five more Gardenia's about to pop up.

True that. I'll remove it.

Anyway, interesting chapter. I liked your mechastarly ... thing. It was a creative way for Volkner to get around that pesky pokedex while still learning necessary information. It was also nice to see Volkner's mindset during battle -- his attitude toward pokemon as murdering creatures really shone through, and I'm glad to see that it offended both Lily and Gardenia. Lily was developed well, even though I think she won't be appearing any time soon (if any time at all). I also think Gardenia will make an interesting opposite to Volkner in terms of pokemon trainer. I think her and Cyrus balance out the rasher Volkner. She's easily becoming my favorite character, though I do like everyone you've added so far, faults and all.

MechaStarly was one of the most amazing things I've ever had the privelege of writing.

Thanks. Lily was also fun to write, and she WILL make a return soon enough.

I'm also glad to see that there were ramifications for Chuseph using Volt Tackle. I was a bit wary when I got to that point (I assumed that the pichu wouldn't get hurt, or something), but I'm glad to see I was like, like always.

Of course. I'm trying to stick a lot by gameverse logic, even though I already have broken a few rules for that.

Chapter six review:

I liked the odd chemistry between Volkner and Gardenia in this chater, with Gardenia's fear and Volkner's skepticism/annoyance with Gardenia's fear. It was amusing to see tough girl Gardenia pretty much faint at the first sight (or sound) of ghost, and then Volkner's panic, followed by his brilliant idea.

In this CHATER?!- No, no, I know what'cha mean.

I wonder who said this, the ghost or Volkner (I assume Volkner). If it is Volkner, I wonder who this Ivan person is. Perhaps his death is why he's so rash? D:

The scene with Jasmine was interesting. I've read a few fics where she always seems to be getting into some sort of trouble with some sort of strange person, then she mumbles something weakly, and then she kicks ***. It's very ... her, if that makes sense. I liked how sweet and humble and calm you made her, even after what she went through.

:3 It fits the image of her I've always had perfectly. Timid, but when she needs to, she's fierce.

My only concern with this chapter was Chuseph, who I know was injured pretty badly in the last chapter (broken arm and whatnot). He didn't seem to be too hurt in this chapter (at least there was no acknowledgment of limited or no movement in the broken arm), which I found a little fishy. Though interesting to see him involve into a pikachu. They involve with happiness, don't they? So maybe the little bugger wanted to be a battler all along ... or really loves Volkner despite Volkner not really loving him back.

Touche. I suppose you have a point there... but I guess it's a bit too late for going back to fix it. x_X;

Chapter seven:

Haha, for real. Was gonna comment on how half of this fic so far takes place in a hospital. XP

XD About three chapters out of eight have had Volkner in a hospital, if I'm thinking right.

Oh, boo. You read my mind. =P

I'm a psycho- I mean psychic. Yeahhhh...

Loveeeee it. =P Especially how random the "god damn it" was centered and italicizing for some reason, haha.

Anyway, more funny moments between Volkner and Gardenia, along with character development of Gardenia's part. I like all the different "faces" you're giving her, from her sharp tongue with Volkner to her motherly, nurturing role with girls in despair. Volkner was enjoyable to read as always with his annoyance with catching Kiki. I'm also glad that Jasmine joined the crew, but I am going to miss Cyrus. He really did balance the other two out with his calm and logical manner, though I suppose Jasmine is just as calm. Still, I hope he makes an appearance sooner or later, whether as a friend or not. And ooh, the mysterious Mana appears. Liked how you threw that it at the end.

You know, I don't think I ever commented on it, but I really like the way you introduce canon characters. I never really thought of them meeting, let alone connecting, the way you make them, but it really, really works well. The dialogue between them is believable, along with their personalities, which were pretty skimp to begin with (at least game canon-wise). I really can see them intermingling and becoming friends/acquaintances/rivals/enemies. Fun stuff.

Curiously, though, what made you choose these characters anyway? I guess I can rationalize Gardenia as she is a resident of Eterna, and Volkner landed around that area. But why Volkner? Or Cyrus? Or Jasmine (though I think I can piece that together, I'm just not sure how to word it correctly)?

I won't lie. Cyrus was off a whim and it just worked well. Gardenia was, as you said, because she's a resident of Eterna. Plus an interesting tidbit of trivia; Gardenia x Volkner is called ManaShipping. Jasmine is because I do intend to make it AlexandrianShipping by the end (Jasmine x Volkner).

Anyway, onto chapter eight!

Chapter eight:

I liked the introduction. Again, it illustrated the dynamic between Volkner and Gardenia well, though I am wondering when we get to see some dialogue between Jasmine and Volkner. I know he had a side thought of her being cute but being too annoyed to initially flirt with her, so I'm wondering if he's going to treat Jasmine politer than he does with Gardenia, or in the same, annoyed way. Or flirt with her. I think this is a JasminexVolkner fic, no? Er, back to my main point, I liked the narrative (well, I always like your narrative) and Volkner's thoughts back to Cyrus. I miss the guy, too, in a non-romantic, non-friendshipy sort of way.

Mysterious stuff in this chapter. Random trainers jumping out of trees to chase down the group, and then Volkner being kidnapped by a gallade, followed with a scene with Flint. I thought the battle was done pretty well -- it wasn't bogged down with detail and was quick and snappy, as I expect battles should be.

On a random note, I like that you have people call each other "Miss ____" or "Mister _____" lately. Them times seem so much politer. Sigh. =P

Lol, yeah.

Good chapters! I actually do like the length of your chapters; they're in nice, bite-size pieces that seem to end at the perfect spot. I never got that feeling that your chapter was skimp or "too much" (where you try to throw all this plot or character development/introduction). It's just the right amount. For me anyway. =P

Really? Oh god, there goes a worry. I won't sorry so much over length anymore.

Thanks, as always, for the review, Breezy!

Side-Note: Expect the next update to take a while. I'm going to go ahead and start a side-fic that's been breaking my mind apart just begging to be written. Don't worry, this story WILL continue! Just have some patience. :#

Though probably obvious with the picture, I was formerly known as IanDonyer. Actually got a username closer to my real name, now.

The smell of smoke and the heat of the flames were all that the boy knew. He knew other things in the deep recesses of his mind, of course, but at the time, these were the only things he could differentiate from the gray seas of semi-consciousness. He crawled, feeling the heat on his skin and inhaling the nauseating smell of smoke, coughing loudly. He felt liquid splatter onto his arm. Warm, sticky: blood.

He continued to crawl despite it. His muscles ached, his skin was agonizingly searing, and the world around him was full of chaos, but he refused to acknowledge these facts. He was driven by an intense hatred... a hatred of the blue-haired man.

He knew he hated that blue-haired man riding on the head of the beast, because that blue-haired man was the controller of that beast and the beast had done this. The blue-haired man had done it all, and he wanted to make the blue-haired man pay.

He looked up to see white. A white dress. Brown hair. He assumed it was a girl because girls wore dresses... the girl grabbed him by the hand.

“Child, come with me!” she nearly screamed. The boy was unable to follow her wishes, though... he couldn't move on his own anymore. His body was writhing with white-hot pain, the agony of damaged tissue and the acrid smell of smoking flesh.

The next thing he knew, he lay there on the ground, a small group of people gathered around him. He was numb. The white-dressed brown-hair girl knelt at his side, a hand on his own. Her touch was tender, soothing.

He opened his mouth to speak. He didn't know why he spoke these words, but it was almost as if his mouth was running off autopilot, demanding that he say them. A simple combination.

“... pick … me ...” he croaked, and then the blackness came as his life slipped away from him. The last thing he heard was a simple sigh.

Lisa let loose a small sigh, removing a finger from the forehead of the green leafy creature, listening to it utter a small, “Biii...” before it flew off.

“I understand. Thank you,” she whispered. She leaped off the tree limb and landed on the ground with a soft thud. “Boy... yet another situation you'll require -me- to get you out of.”

She kept a soft touch on the single Pokeball attached to her belt. She supposed she would use this little girl again... she pressed the silver release switch, and immediately grasped a small pink paw.

The creature buzzed around in the air, taking her with it. Lisa wasn't able to keep herself from smiling.

“Myuuu!~” the creature cooed. Lisa knew this was an understanding, “okay,” and she closed her eyes to allow the creature to draw her off into the land of dreams.

She landed in the midst of a volcanic wasteland. The ground was dark and cracked, small pools of magma visibly flowing inside these cracks. She cautiously stepped around them, and searched across the landscape for the one she needed to speak to. The landscape was dotted with volcanoes, large brown masses of land with plumes of lava spitting out of their circular tops. In the middle of four, she spotted her man.

He was tall and handsome, though his hairstyle was a bit freaky. He reminded her of the boy.

“... A beautiful young lady,” the man said. “In my land? It's dangerous out here, Miss – allow me to take you out.”

Almost immediately, a Rapidash spontaneously appeared from nowhere, the man riding on top of it.

She lifted up a hand to show her disapproval.

“Flint,” she said. “You're in a dream.”

“Perhaps so; only in my dreams could I see a beautiful-”

“There is no perhaps. There is only so.”

“... I see. And why do you tell me this?”

“Because it's the only way I can communicate with you. Call me Mana.”

Flint raised an eyebrow. “I see. A pleasure, Mana.”

“You're close to a friend of mine. He's gotten himself into a bit of trouble. I can't go myself: so I need you to save him.”

“And why me, dear Mana?”

“You'll grow into a great man, Flint. He is currently trapped in the Solaceon Town Ruins. When you get to the town, head south immediately. You'll find two REAL damsels in distress, and an unconscious man. Save them, then go save the boy Volkner Denzi.”

“That doesn't-”

“Goodbye, Flint.”

Mana snapped her fingers and disappeared.

Flint awoke with a startled scream, and leaped up to his feet. He felt a sense of urgency. He picked up his supplies, threw them into his backpack and threw that over his shoulders, and finally he bolted off toward the south.

Volkner pressed a hand against the rough wall to pull himself up to his feet, groaning lightly as the debris in the area pressed up against his palm and even broke his skin a little. But it was the least of his concerns; it was a bit more important that towering above him was a Gallade, its elbow-blades barred fiercely as if it was intent on slitting Volkner's throat with them.

But as he blinked, the creature disappeared, and Volkner realized the fate he was being left to. He was in a dimly lit place, only barely able to see a few steps in front of him, and he probably wouldn't be able to find his way out. He was on his own here, and he didn't imagine there were any Wild Pokemon here. So he was also more than likely without food or water.

He had been taken here to die an agonizingly slow death.

“Damn it,” Volkner cursed. “If I had Chuseph or Elekid, I could get out of here... but Chuseph's pretty much useless unconscious, and Elekid was left at the battle scene... I get the luck of being stuck in this dingy, dratted place with only a baby Eevee!”

He kicked the wall, and immediately recoiled, falling on his bum and grabbing for his foot. Despite the ancient appearance of the place, it was made of a very sturdy brick it seemed. He cried out in frustration, before turning to hope he was wrong – and walked into the dark hallways of this unknown labyrinth.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Flint barreled through Solaceon Town like his life depended on it; he didn't know why, but he felt like just maybe some other lives did. He remembered he had a dream. It was vivid, yet he couldn't remember much of its message - just that he had run into an odd girl who told him something. Perhaps this was it? He doubted it. After all, he was the flaming fire expert, not a psychic like Kanto's newly appointed Gym Leader Sabrina.

"Young man, slow down some, you'll hurt yourself!" a voice cried out. He was moving so fast that it was not from a decipherable source: someone dressed in blue had simply become a flash of the color to him as he passed him or her on his way through the very small little village.

He arrived at its end in no more than a few minutes. His breathing got harder by the second, but he could have cared less, and he was sure Mags could go on for quite a while longer. He turned a sharp curve to avoid a ditch, while Mags just hopped right on over it -- proving his point. He allowed himself a choked laugh to somehow escape him, and turned another sharp curve around to go back on path. Yet another curve came around, and when he crossed it, he saw the battle scene.

Two women were locked in what appeared to be an intense Pokemon Battle with a young man: his hair was a dark shade of blue, down to his shoulders with bangs nearly covering his eyes. His face held an aura of malice to it that made Flint shudder through his gaps.

The women were standing side by side. One had long brown hair down past her shoulders, unstyled, with a red dress on. The other had brown khakis of a similar color to the other woman's hair, a green shirt and a black cape-like thing draped over her shoulders. Her hair was a caramel brown. In front of them, the caramel brown girl had herself a Turtwig, dancing around the field to avoid attacks by one of the opponents Pokemon -- a white and green knight-like Pokemon he recognized as a Gallade. The regular brown girl had the gigantic rock snake that he recognized as Onix, slamming its tail down forcefully, causing small tremors in the process, in the spot where a white-skinned Pokemon with a bit of green that looked like it was wearing a dress was at the time: it kept teleporting around the battle field to avoid the crushing attacks. He believed it was Gallade's (typically) female counterpart, Gardevoir.

Flint reached toward his belt and unhooked a Pokeball. He allowed himself just a few more seconds to regain his breath before yelling out to gain some attention, "Flare, come on out! Mags, Flare, both of you help them out!"

He tossed his arm forward and from the thrown Pokeball came a small red Pokemon, standing on all fours, its tan mane seeming to waver due to the air around it suddenly getting very, very hot. It was the fire-type evolution of Eevee: Flareon.

The two women turned around and glanced at Flint - before they seemed to simply enjoy the fact that they were going to be helped.

"Turtwig, make room for Flareon!" the caramel brown woman yelled, and her Turtwig consented with ease. It appeared to be very tired, and Flint nodded toward the girl.

"Return it. I'll take over. You too, snake-girl."

Snake-girl seemed a little hesitant, but she too returned her Pokemon after the caramel brown girl did as well.

Flint ran forward, and glanced at their attacker.

"Heh. Attacking two innocent little ladies, eh?" Flint said between breaths. "I oughta beat your butt into the ground for such a heinous crime."

"..." The attacker did not speak. He did not need to anyway: he had two psychic types that were fully evolved. It meant they were experienced, and probably didn't need to be commanded.

Flare began stomping the ground with his front two paws for a few moments, his body covered in an orange aura that radiated heat. Then he rushed forward toward Gallade.

Mags opened up his mouth, looked skyward, and shot three bursts of a chunky looking liquid upward into the sky, where it came raining down: Gardevoir teleported out of the way, and the lava landed on the ground with a hot hiss. Gallade lifted up his arm to provide a protective shield... and Flare was hit with the third.

Flint smiled.

The intensity of the orange aura around Flare's body increased, and he slammed right into an unsuspecting Gallade made too busy to dodge by the flames pouring down on him, knocking him down to his knees and eventually right onto his face. The assaulter recalled his Pokemon with a scowl, and then finally spoke.

"You're going to pay for that. Gardevoir, keep dodging attacks with teleport, but use Calm Mind," he said. His voice was low, seething.

Flint felt an odd sense of dread at this; he'd have to end it quick. He returned Flare, and sent out his next Pokemon: a Pokemon with black fur that clung so tightly to its skin that it appeared to be exactly that - its skin, dark and leathery. The Pokemon had a skull pattern on its head, and fierce, piercing eyes. It was his Houndour, a loyal partner.

"Hounds, c'mere," Flint said and then knelt down to whisper something in his ear. The hound nodded and ran over toward the battle field.

"You next, Mags," Flint murmured, and repeated the process. Mags ran over back to the battlefield, and Flint grinned as he spoke his next words. "Let the battle commence!"

Gardevoir was already in the midst of calming herself. She still seemed to have an aura of knowing about her though, and this made both Hounds and Mags look at each other with a bit of anxiousness. The plan must commence, or so they had been told, so they would do it either way.

Mags thrust his neck outward, pursed his lips and sent a stream of fire in the Gardevoir's path. The blazing beam was dodged with ease by a teleport off to the side.

Hounds' role was now to come in. He sent forth a second Flamethrower attack, dodged by moving down to the southwest with another teleport.

Mags and Hounds both sent forth their own individual attacks next: A dark wave of shimmering energy zipped forward and intervened with the path of a flaming mass. Flamethrower and Dark Pulse combined into one attack...

... and at that moment, the plan actually failed.

Not negatively so, Flint thought with a dropped jaw. It was still good this happened. But he had intended to drop in one attack, watch the Gardevoir dodge it, send in another attack that intentionally missed, watch it teleport away anyway, then another attack so that hopefully one of the three flaming through the battlefield would hit.

But instead, the man returned his Pokemon.

"... Understood. It's -your- bounty," the man muttered.

The man then turned around and began to walk away. Flint held out a hand and was prepared to go running after him, but the two girls stepped forward, the brown haired snake-girl with a hand out on his shoulder, caramel brown girl speaking up.

"Thanks fer yer help, stranger, but let's let that guy go. He's pretty tough, and we'll be pushin' our luck," she said, her thick country accent ringing through Flint's ears and filling him with a mild annoyance: he hated to admit it, but she was right.

"Right... so, can I get the pleasure of knowing you lovely ladies and your names?" Flint asked. "If so, I might be able to provide you with a bit of... information."

Caramel stepped back a bit, and brown snake ended up staying in the same place but folding her arms over her chest.

"Flint Oba," Flint said. "And for the bit of information, your friend is in the Solaceon Ruins."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Volkner lay there wallowing in his self pity. He had been searching for what felt like hours, and he was hungry, thirsty and even going as far as to long for some companionship. So he sat there, and pulled out Eevee's Pokeball, preparing to see the little creature for the first time.

It sat there after being released, staring at him curiously, its black eyes wide and almost adorable enough to the point where Volkner smiled. It was a he, Volkner believed.

"... Hey little guy," Volkner murmured, allowing himself to extend a hand. "You get the wonderful ****in' company of good ol' me in this god damned place."

Despite his foul language, Eevee didn't seem to mind and ended up approaching Volkner's hand, gently rubbing his head against his palm. And oddly enough, Volkner found himself liking it.

He shuddered and drew his hand away. "... Don't think you'll get that often," he muttered. Eevee replied by plopping soundly down onto the stone floor and staring up at Volkner happily.

"Veee!~" it chirped.

Volkner smiled, then reversed it. What the hell? He was becoming rather attracted to the little guy already -- he'd have to fix that. He slipped his thumb onto the release/return switch of his Pokeball, and returned the brown-furred critter before getting up and continuing to explore the area.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Flint sighed with annoyance. "For the last time, I'm not revealing my sources! And it doesn't make me a bad guy! I helped you out, didn't I?"

Volkner lay in the middle of a stone floor, his body shifting in its sleep-ridden state as it urged for more comfort; in return, though, it merely ended up causing more discomfort as skin rubbed against brick. Volkner would be in pain when he woke up. But the shifting and groaning he was doing was not entirely for the result of a search for comfort. His mind was also going through a rough state of turmoil, dreams running through his head as fast as a bullet train.

"... You sure?" Volkner said uneasily, twiddling his thumbs. "I like the small, cute ones... momma has them all around the house, we can go and see them."

"Screw that!" the boy said. "I wanna see something big, something strong! Like a Scyther, or a Tyranitar!"

"Ivan, it'll be-"

"Nonsense!" Ivan said. "It's perfectly safe if we stay our distance!"

Volkner wasn't so sure. The prospect of two powerful Pokemon in the same area was disturbing to him - he didn't want to ever see anything other than his mother's Abra or the newly born Pichu his mother had bought for him (he couldn't quite remember its nickname). But then again, he supposed if he wanted to ever be COOL, he'd have to do something to prove his worth.

Reluctantly, he nodded.

The two of them jogged off toward the outskirts of Olivine City, and as soon as they did, they hit the grass and began to crawl on their stomachs close to the scene that kept quite a few people away (Volkner had been outside with Ivan when the news was delivered; he had yet to receive orders from his mother to return home, probably for the sole reason of being unable to find him).

They reached the spot where the fight that people all throughout Olivine whispered about was going on.

There were two green Pokemon. One was smaller than the other, but still about human-sized, a pair of small wings on its back and scythes for arms. Its joints were tan, looking a little frail.

But that frailness in its appearance was denied by the sight of its opponent. It was locked in a fierce fight with a large green Pokemon with a blue belly, spikes running down its back and a thick tail.

The scythe-arm Pokemon jumped up and made a slice at the face of the spike-back, and the spike-back jumped back, the ground shaking under its weight. Spike-back placed its arms in front of it, opening its mouth wide. A pulsing beam of black energy was sent toward Scythe-arm, who dove aside to dodge it.

Ivan's eyes shone with a mixture of excitement and fear, and Volkner could smell only the fear from his friend's and his own sweat. He closed his eyes as another jump by Spike-back shook the earth beneath them. He could have sworn he felt the slightly elevated ledge they lay on loosen a little.

The Scythe-arm darted by the Spike-back and dragged an arm across its stomach. It cut open a tough hide slightly, blood splattering the ground in front of it.

Volkner opened his eyes to this and flinched.

"This is so cool, ain't it, Volk?!" Ivan whispered excitedly.

He didn't get an answer. He apparently didn't expect to, as he didn't press the issue further.

Little did Volkner know these would be the last words Ivan Firme would ever speak to him.

Spike-back tried to lash his tail downward as Scythe-arm performed a U-turn, returning to its original spot, and missed. The ground shook, and the ground beneath Volkner and Ivan broke entirely loose and began to plummet.

Volkner and Ivan screamed. They were plummeting right into the battle arena. They weren't that high up, but still, their impact would leave them with a few moments of being winded before they could flee... Volkner was terrified.

The Spike-back, at that time, released another beam of pulsating black energy. It missed and struck their little land-board, and it exploded violently beneath them. Volkner was sent upward with the force: Ivan continued to fall. Volkner saw it happen with his own eyes.

Ivan Firme was propelled forward. He landed right in between the two battling Pokemon, -right- as Scythe-arm was aiming an attack.

The attack hit Ivan instead.

Volkner couldn't scream. He couldn't do a damn thing with the explosion having injured him; he had no breathe left to use. He hit the ground and couldn't get the sight of his best friend being cut through like tissue paper, the ground turning from brown to crimson... and he watched with horror as the two Pokemon ignored his corpse.

Volkner hit the ground with a thud, and lay there, the image embedded in his mind forever. Ivan Firme, cut clean in two.

Ivan Firme, his best friend, dead because of a simple quarrel.

He heard two things before he lost consciousness: the sounds of wheels screeching to a halt, and the sound of what sounded like dart guns.

Volkner awoke with a scream. His entire body was soaking wet and filled with a pulsating pain, most of it coming from his aching heart. He saw the image of his best friend once more - the main pain came from his heart. He could tell it wasn't just sweat rolling down his face. He was crying.

He stood up and fingered the Pokeball in his pocket with a scowl.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"... G-...Gardenia, can we rest, please?" Jasmine asked. Her legs ached miserably from all the walking she had been doing: she wasn't used to this kind of excersise all in one day, having started walking from Hearthome all the way to the Solaceon Ruins and through basically with no rest.

Gardenia herself was tired, so she nodded.

Jasmine leaned up against a wall and allowed its cool surface to cool off her body a bit. She shifted her feet... and felt one sink into the ground, and the wall behind her flip, her along with it.

Within seconds, she was on the other side of the wall. It had been a trap door of sorts - probably designed to trick robbers, she thought.

She stood up and brushed herself off, reaching into the pocket of the shorts she wore beneath her long red dress, pulling out a Pokeball. As she was preparing to release the Pokemon inside, she heard the groan of a familiar voice, whispering curses.

It was Volkner.

"Volkner?" she yelled, her voice high. "Volkner, is that you?"

And, conveniently enough, when she said that, he walked into view.

He was disheveled, his face red and a bit bloody. He was obviously sweaty, and a good bet in Jasmine's eyes would be that he was disoriented.

He reached up and brushed her cheek with a raw red hand. He winced at that.

Jasmine's flesh went redder in an instant. The feel of those raw hands brushing against her cheek was almost... pleasant. She stepped back and placed the Pokeball in her hand out in front of her.

"... I s'pose I will be," Volkner murmured, right before collapsing to the ground.

Jasmine gasped, but released the tan Pokemon inside the ball.

"Abbie," Jasmine said. "Take us to Gardenia."

The Abra teleported them to the other side of the wall.

Gardenia turned to face them, seeing Volkner on the floor alongside an Abra, Jasmine towering above the two of them.

"There you are- you found him? Is he okay?" Gardenia gasped.

The Elekid that had been trotting alongside Gardenia ran over to his trainer, his eyes shining with what seemed to be genuine concern.

"I don't know," Jasmine said. "But I believe it's time for Abbie to take us to the Solaceon Town Pokemon Center. Isn't that right Abbie?"

Abbie snored. But they all disappeared, reappearing in a totally different setting. Their surroundings went from yellow to a pale gray, a few people passing by. Solaceon was a small town, so not that many could be expected - but it also meant they almost always had a doctor available.

One happened to be passing by as they teleported in. He was tall with a head of black hair, a white labcoat buttoned up on his torso and a pair of khaki pants covering his lower half. A stethoscope was slung over his shoulder.

The man seemed strong, as he knelt by Volkner and carried the thirteen-year-old in his arms. He leaped up and began to move toward the Pokemon Center's desk.

"Yes, ma'am?" the man said. "I'm assuming you'd have a medical room available for us?"

The woman behind the desk, who had been typing up something on her computer, looked at the man and nodded.

"Alright, Doctor Yulmen. Take two-oh-three," she said, reaching beneath the desk then extending a hand, keys now grasped in them.

Doctor Yulmen took them and nodded. "Thank you."

The three of them moved up the steps to the right of the desk to arrive at Room 203.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Volkner began to awaken, feeling pain rush all over his body, as a firm voice rang through his ears.

"I believe your friend will be fine with a few days of rest," it said. "The wounds on his body are few in number, and though his skin will be sore for a while, he's not gonna be in pain for more than a couple hours I imagine."

"That's good..." a shy voice said. Jasmine, Volkner recognized - that shy voice was unmistakable. He kind of liked the sound of it.

"Alright! Our lil' boy'll be just fine, huh?" a thick accent said. Also unmistakable was the annoying voice of Gardenia. "Sucks he'll be sore, but ain't nothin' big, right?"

"Right," the firm voice confirmed. "So, is there anything else you two need?"

"No thank you, sir- Oh, my, he's waking up..."

Volkner, at this point, had sat up and was allowing himself to wake up. He looked at the owner of the firm voice - a doctor.

"Ah, here we go! Good evening, boy," the doctor said. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, you'll be feeling like **** for a very short time. You oughta take a few days rest, but you should be able to be back to your exploring - as these girls told me got you in this situation - any time you'd like," the doctor said.

Volkner nodded slowly. "Get out," he said. "I'd like to rest some more with my friends."

Gardenia cocked an eyebrow at the phrase. But the doctor nodded.

"Very well. I hope you feel better, Mister.."

"Volkner," Volkner responded. "Volkner Denzi."

"Mister Denzi, then." The doctor smiled and left the room. Oddly enough, Gardenia followed suit.

"Be right back," she said.

So for about five minutes, there were three things major present in that room: Volkner, Jasmine, and an awkward silence.

And then Gardenia returned and sat. Volkner spoke up.

"What happened?"

"Some guy. Sent out his Gallade and it teleported you - we think he was tryin' 'ta kill ya," Gardenia said.

"Figured that much out, genius," Volkner muttered.

"He said it was a bounty."

"... Ah."

"Some guy came back and helped us - said his name was Flint, and he knew everything somehow. Do ya know 'im?" Gardenia asked.

"Never," Volkner said.

"... Right. Well, we told him ya trained primarily electric types, 'cept fer yer Eevee - so he gave ya this," she responded. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a green stone with a yellow thunderbolt indentation, tossing it to Volkner and flinching as she realized what she had just done. "... Er, sorry."

Volkner flinched as the firm stone hit his raw palm, but he nodded. "... Whatever," he said. "What is it?"

"It's a Thunder Stone," Jasmine said. "Thunder Stones can evolve one of two Pokemon I know of - Pikachu or Eevee."

"... Both of which I have," Volkner murmured. "Decisions, decisions."

"Ya ain't gotta use it immediately," Gardenia said.

"But I'm gonna," Volkner responded snappily. He reached into his pocket and looked at the ball for a second - it was Eevee's.

He placed his thumb on the release switch and watched as the ball expanded, sending out a flash of red light onto the floor. A small, brown body appeared, furry with pointed ears and black bead eyes.

But it wouldn't be that way for long. Volkner extended the hand he held the Thunder Stone in, and after a few seconds, Eevee began to glow a faint shade of white.

The whiteness began to grow in intensity. Soon, Eevee was not at all visible, merely a ball of glowing white light.

Then it all faded away.

What stood there was a yellow Pokemon with spiked fur, and a white collar-like patch of fur around its neck. Its eyes had gotten smaller, even more beady now. Like Eevee, it had large pointed ears.

"... Jolteon," a voice said.

Volkner looked to the door to see an all too familiar face there.

Gardenia looked up and smiled. "Mana! C'mon in!"

Jasmine looked up as well and allowed herself a smile. She remained silent, though.

Mana stepped in, her body covered in a long white dress similar to Jasmine's. Her brown hair made her almost indecipherable from her: the only differences being the color of her dress and he style of her hair. It was tied up into a ponytail, while Jasmine's was unstyled.

Volkner wondered for a moment when she became the leader of their little group, but he sighed. Not like he could argue it anyway.

Jolteon leaped up on the bed next to Volkner and sat there. Volkner sighed and returned the Pokemon, before laying back on it and closing his eyes.

"So then, what're ya doin' out here, Mana?" Gardenia asked.

"Well, I was kind of hoping I could ask you guys a favor," Mana said. "You see, I've been traveling around taking the Pokemon Gym Challenge. I was kind of hoping I could join you guys in traveling around for a bit - it's always good experience for a trainer to have company, yes?"

Volkner's eyes shot open.

... Oh ****.

Gardenia got to her feet and embraced Mana again. "Of course! We're heading around to two cities that have gyms with 'em - we'll be more than happy to let ya join us! Right, Jasmine? Volkner?"

Jasmine nodded. Volkner put up a shaky thumb and immediately drew it back down again. He hadn't meant to do that - he didn't know what made him. He opened his mouth to speak out a firm no, but Gardenia's overexcited squeal quieted him.

He sighed and wondered just what the hell he had gotten himself into.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 10. Sitting here at six thirty A.M. Been up since three thirty A.M. Been writing since four o'clock A.M.

*blink* Jesus.

Though probably obvious with the picture, I was formerly known as IanDonyer. Actually got a username closer to my real name, now.

Volkner slipped carefully out of his bed, his eyes drooping to half-way being shut. The idea of sleep right now was a welcome one, but he didn't quite know if he'd be able to get it. So instead, he would approach the one person he knew was awake.

She sat in her bed, the light of a lamp illuminating it, a book in hand. As his feet hit the ground, she noticed him, and glared away from her reading.

"Might I ask what's troubling you, Volkner?" she asked.

"You know what it is," Volkner retorted. And he knew she did.

"The dreams of your friend? Or me?" A tone of legitimate curiosity was evident in her voice, and Volkner let loose a frustrated groan.

So she knew of his dreams.

"Of course I do," she responded. "You should know me better than that by now." A grin had crossed her lips, met by a scowl from Volkner.

"Yeah. I suppose so," Volkner said and sat at the edge of her bed. His gaze was piercing; her's soft and soothing. But the soothing effect would not work on him today. It would not work on him ever again.

"Tell me, Volkner," Mana said. "Have you figured it out yet?"

Volkner stared at her for a few seconds, then slowly shook his head. "Tell me."

"I can't quite do that," she responded. "Of course, I could, but... well, it would kind of ruin the point."

Volkner clenched the sheets in his left hand, gritting his teeth. "Don't play with me, girl."

Mana placed a hand over her mouth to stifle an oncoming giggle. "Do you really think I'd talk so cryptically to you, Volkner? I have no idea what you're so angry about."

She did, he knew: she was just playing with him. And it was at that point that Mana lifted a hand and pointed toward Volkner's pocket: his cell phone began to ring. He glared at Mana, and then stood up and walked to a quiet corner, opened up the phone, hit a button and began to speak.

Cyrus slid a hand against the rock wall as he walked by it, his other hand busy pressing his phone against his ear. A grin was spread across his lips. The sound of a friend's voice was a comfort: for he was alone, but he would be joining the others soon. He wanted to introduce his ideas to the other boy first... for a boy who suffered so, he could tell, would be glad to hear the news.

"Well, good for you... is it important, Cyrus? Can it wait 'till the morning?"

"It is important. I'll cut straight to the point," Cyrus said. "One of the things I learned was a legend. A Legend of a group of five Pokemon: they are the beings of emotion, will power, wisdom, and those who control space and time. Mesprit, Azelf, Uxie, Palkia and Dialga."

"Okay..." Volkner said. "Your point is?"

"My point is, that when Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie are gathered together, they can easily control the duo of Palkia and Dialga. With those three, one can control space and time's lords."

"... Did you call to give me a bedtime story, Cyrus?" Volkner muttered. Annoyance was obvious in his voice.

"No. You don't get it, do you? If one can capture those three and summon the duo, they can reshape the universe to their ideals... I want to do it, Volkner."

"I don't know yet. I just know I don't plan on doing it alone. I know for a fact that I can't," Cyrus said. His grin widened to the point of where he thought his lips would stretch and burst. "Which is why I want to make a proposition to you."

"Is that so?" Volkner asked. "And what would that be?"

"I'm going to form a team. It's going to have to be huge, like the Rocket Gang of Kanto - it'll be shunned. It will be criminal. But to defy the law is a cost well-worth it; this team is going to work toward capturing these five Pokemon. And when we do, I will destroy this world."

"Destroy it, Cyrus? What?"

"Destroy it and then reshape it. The world will begin anew under the names of Akagi and Denzi - we will reform the world so that it will be forever without strife. Without suffering. Without pain. We will do the world a great favor, Volkner! Join me as a co-leader... a co-leader to the gang that will shoot to the stars!"

"... You're utterly insane, C-cyrus," Volkner whispered suddenly. He had gotten a reaction to this incident. Perhaps it was awe.

"... Call me back some time soon, Volkner. Take your time to think it over. Introduce it to the woman... uhm, Gardenia, wasn't it? We three can talk it over, perfect the idea. What do you say-"

Cyrus was met with a harsh click. Volkner had hung up on him... it was slightly frustrating, he had to admit, but he supposed not all had the capacity of mind to understand his plan like he did. He would give him time to think it over.

And if he denied him... well, Cyrus didn't know what he would do.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Volkner snapped his phone shut and thrust it into his pocket, eyes wide. He couldn't recall, but the terminology of what Cyrus had said sounded oddly familiar to him.

He glared over to Mana, who was staring back at him. He walked over to her and sat down at the edge of the bed once again.

"Who was it?" she asked teasingly.

"... You know who it was," Volkner murmured.

"Actually, I really don't - I'm not quite -that- talented."

"... It was Cyrus," he said. "A friend."

She cocked an eyebrow, and a bit of harshness suddenly entered her eyes. Very uncharacteristic of her. "The boy who was in the Valley Windworks with you?"

"Yeah. We traveled for a bit - hey, how did you know about that?" Volkner asked. It was, for some reason, surprising to him.

"Even people like me read newspapers, Volkner," she said.

"... Right," Volkner said. "... Anyways, we traveled for a bit, then Cyrus decided to go his own way and us our own."

Mana simply nodded. "Go back to bed, Volkner."

Oddly enough, Volkner found himself wishing to listen. He slipped off the edge of Mana's bed and over toward his own, where he laid his head down on the pillow and shut his eyes.

But he did not get a wink of sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The four traveling trainers slipped out of the Pokemon Center early the next morning: Gardenia peppy and excited, Jasmine her usual calm and happy demeanor, Mana being the same. Only Volkner was in a bad mood, trudging out of the Solaceon Town Pokemon Center with absolutely no rest from the previous night. His mind was too focused on other things.

Eventually, the four of them reached a three-way road. To the north, they spotted two things: One, a building with a sign above it, stating "Mooman's Travelin' Trainer's Respite" and below it "Resterant". Gardenia laughed at the blatant misspelling of restaurant. Second, a field of tall, healthy looking grass.

To the east, a set of steps carved out of dirt. They could see a bit of rainfall in the distance there.

To the west, a path in which they would have to climb a small ledge to get past. With Volkner with them, that was virtually impossible.

So the four of them headed inside "Mooman's Travelin' Trainer's Respite 'Resterant'", and found it rather empty. At the most, about five people were inside other than themselves, and three of them were waitresses, one behind the counter.

They moved over to a table and sat down, waiting for one of the waitresses to come over. They sat in silence, even as she dashed over to them and laid out five menus - one for each of them, and one labeled "Pokemon Food" in the center of the table. Jasmine was the first one to reach for it, while the others flipped open their people-food menus.

After about ten minutes, they got their food - Pokemon and people alike.

Jasmine released three Pokemon: Abigail the Abra, Benjamin the Butterfree - a large blue-skinned Pokemon with big red eyes and striped white wings - and her own Magnemite, Margaret.

Gardenia released three as well: Her Tangela, her Turtwig, and her Roselia.

Mana released a single Pokemon: a Kirlia, which twirled around as it moved toward its bowl of food.

Volkner, of course, released Chuseph, Elekid and Jolteon, and all of them began to eat.

Volkner regarded his Pokemon with a scowl. Such adorable little devils; cute when they needed to be, but devils when they weren't. It wasn't until he felt the soft touch of a hand on his shoulder that he realized just how open he had made his dislike of the small, cute scene of furry creatures having their little meal.

"Cute, aren't they...?" a voice said, and he looked up to identify it as Jasmine's. She wore a simple smile that seemed to lighten up the whole room, and for a moment, Volkner couldn't think of a come back - he was absorbed in her visage. But he broke out of the spell and muttered something beneath his breath.

"... Foul little bastards," he muttered.

Jasmine looked at him like he was growing lobsters from his ears. "Excuse me?"

Just then, a voice interrupted the little scene.

"Well hiya there - just look who it is!" Gardenia exclaimed.

And God be damned, Volkner thought. If it ain't Cyrus - and he's got a friend.

As he looked up to examine the two who had approached the table, Cyrus and this red-headed girl accompanying him, Volkner sighed and stood up.

For now, Volkner would be polite as to not risk getting his *** handed to him on a silver platter by Gardenia. "... Yeah. I suppose so."

Gardenia spoke up next. "C'mon Cyrus, find yerself and yer friend a chair! Sit down and talk fer a bit!"

Cyrus nodded and did so, him pulling up next to Volkner, carefully avoiding his Pokemon still eating close by. His friend pulled up next to Gardenia, smoothing out her gray skirt before doing so.

"So, how've ya been, Cyrus?" Gardenia asked. "See ya've been travelin' some." Her eyes moved to the light smears of dirt on his clothing.

"Yes - I moved almost immediately through Mt. Coronet after I separated from you two. Made my way up to Celestic Town where I met Marsha here, and then we went back down through here and decided to stop for a bite to eat... and, we come upon you... four. My, the group has widened considerably since I left, hasn't it?"

Gardenia nodded. "I s'pose an introductory session is in order! Let's all introduce ourselves. No unfamiliar faces should leave this restaurant this evenin', 'kay? I'll start us off - my name's Gardenia! From Eterna City."

The friend of Cyrus spoke up next. "Marsha. But please," she said as she glared at Cyrus. "Call me Mars. From Celestic Town."

"Sorry, I keep forgetting..." Cyrus said, a bit of embarrassment evident in his voice.

Mana spoke up next. "Mana Aname, from Hearthome City."

Cyrus widened his eyes a bit, the only one who knew Volkner's real history. He continued the pattern, despite this. "C-...Cyrus, from Sunyshore City."

Cyrus leaned in on the table, propping his elbows up and turning his palms skyward to hold his head. An oddly childish sort of action for the super-serious guy, Gardenia found it a bit disturbing; a sixth sense informing her of what was to come, perhaps, she thought.

He grinned. It was giddy, simple and happy, as he looked at her. It made her shrink back a bit.

The tension was now so thick it was almost tangible. Volkner's gaze firmly focused upon Cyrus, Jasmine's somewhat nervous, Mana's usual calm and soothing demeanor now looking to be as tough as a brick wall. Only Mars seemed normal to Gardenia - and that was only because she didn't know the girl well.

Cyrus spoke up.

"Gardenia, has Volkner informed you of my phone call? I made it last night to him - and told him to tell you about it," he started. "But I get the feeling he hasn't."

Gardenia cocked an eyebrow. "No, he hadn't. Then again, that's Volkner for ya."

Cyrus nodded. He moved his hands back down toward his lap. "Of course. I figured he wouldn't - well then, let me inform you. I have a proposition."

Gardenia nodded in return. "Go on."

"As I left your group for my own purposes, I did so because I came upon an inscription in Mt. Coronet's walls," he said. "An inscription made by what appears to be ancient Sinnohan people... I had a bit of a time deciphering it, but I managed to get a broken message: 'He...conquers...trio...conquer...world'. Beneath it were drawings; three small pictures of tailed creatures, and two larger ones. The three tailed creatures were connected by a line, forming an upside-down triangle. The tip of the upside-down triangle drew a line that split in two down to the two larger creatures. I drew the conclusion that they were Pokemon. Are you following me?"

Gardenia nodded again. She didn't understand where he was going with the story though - and she hadn't painted a picture of Cyrus in her mind as the archaeology-inspired type. But she supposed she hadn't known him that well either.

"So, I went to a local town - actually accessible through a bike, if you're enough of a daredevil, in the path we were heading, hence how I got there - and looked it up in their library with the assistance of a librarian. She herself was married to an archaeologist... talk about luck, huh? Anyways, she recognized these immediately as a legend of Mt. Coronet - that atop it, there is a ancient building called the Spear Pillar, where, if one gathers the three legendary Pokemon Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie, they would be able to summon the legendary Pokemon Dialga and Palkia... lords of Time and Space. It made sense then. I was able to decipher the whole thing through hearing this legend... 'He who conquers the trio, conquers the world'. It made sense... the trio of Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie could summon Dialga and Palkia, and through conquering Space and Time, one could easily control the entire Earth."

Gardenia's gaze grew weary. She didn't want to think what she was thinking, but what Cyrus was leading up to sounded an awful lot like what she was thinking he was going to suggest.

"But, of course, there goes the concept of conquering the Earth if people rebel it. But with further research, I managed to deduce a solution to this too!" Cyrus's glee was apparently hard to contain then... it was almost leaking through his pores as a tangible substance. Gardenia could almost smell it.

"... and this is?" Jasmine piped up. Gardenia cast a glance at her, surprised by her speaking up. Her tone sounded a bit shaky.

"The trio are the source of human function in the legends! It makes even more sense, then! Uxie is the source of humanity's wisdom, Mesprit is the source of humanity's emotion, and Azelf is the source of humanity's willpower. With the three of them under one's control, all three things could be under that same person's grip!"

Gardenia glanced at Volkner, who seemed to be reddening. Then she looked at Mana, who grew tougher in her demeanor, a stone coldness evident in her eyes.

"Yes," Cyrus said. "It's frightening if it falls into the wrong hands... but I have ideas. What if someone where to use these powers for the purpose of good...? Say... to destroy this world as we know it? And rebuild it? Rebuild it so that it would be without the emotions that plague us?!"

He sounded almost ecstatic at the thought. Gardenia could feel a rage bubbling up inside her.

"Eliminate anger! Eliminate lust! Eliminate all earthly wants - create a world without the strife that causes wars! Causes death, causes pain! It sounds wonderful, does it not? Gardenia, I told Volkner last night that my plans... are to perform this. Create this ideal world. Create a Galactic Sanctuary, where no man suffers. But I can not do such a tremendous undertaking on my own. I will require help, and Marsha-"

"Mars," Mars interrupted.

"Sorry, Mars, is the first volunteer to help with this. But we will form a team, a gang like the Rockets of Kanto - but with much nobler cause. We will break laws. But the benefits will outweigh the negatives such as that... we will call ourselves Team Galactic: the team for the Galactic Sanctuary. I would like you and Volkner to become higher-ups in the group: not necessarily co-leaders, but executives, within the top five people. What do you say, Gardenia? Volkner?"

Gardenia hated the idea. The world was fine as it was - sure, certain things made it a bit difficult to live in, but those things were things she was willing to live in. She was happy with her life, and she was happy with the world.

And she was about to voice this opinion, until she heard the sound of a chair scraping against wooden floor, and the fabric of a soft dress brush up against her arm. Jasmine had stood, her gaze uncharacteristically authoritative and almost frightening. She spoke up.

"... Cyrus, I don't know you much at all," she said. "But I've already come to disagree with you. Your ideas are heartful and kind, but you -must- realize that they can not work. To rid the world of anger, pain, lust and the like, you'd have to overwrite all emotions. We would live in an emotionless world and I can't help do anything but hate that! I'd rather see the world as it is, than go through such tragedy."

Cyrus stood up to match her.

"... I didn't include that for a reason. I admit. I know this to be true - but I would rather see no emotion at all than painful ones. It is the only way to fix our horrible, smitten world!" he exclaimed.

"You must have one hell of an issue with people, Cyrus," Gardenia stated, standing up as well. "'cause I can't see why anyone would go through such insane measures. Bad things leave scars sometimes, but just 'cause they do, doesn't mean you don't have the option 'ta just forget 'em! You -will- get over it."

Volkner stood up next. He apparently decided to take the more direct route of telling Cyrus that he was thinking too high, a bit too high up on his mental pedestal.

Because his route was cocking back his elbow and then thrusting a fist straight into the blue-haired boy's face.

Cyrus was sent sprawling back onto the wooden floor with a thud, his head hitting the ground. He lay there for a moment, groaning, a steady trickle of scarlet coming from his nose. The skin on his nose was a bright red, obviously prone to swelling very soon. He stood up a second later, and glared daggers at Volkner.

"... In-...insanity is a matter of perspective to me, Volkner," Cyrus responded. "You may disagree with me now, but I will prove that what I say is what is the best!"

"Ego problems, much?" Volkner retorted. "'What I say goes'. **** that. This world ****ing sucks, but, hell... for some insane reason, I don't think I'd have it any other way. Anything other than sucky is kinda boring."

Cyrus rushed forward, arms outstretched. He slammed into Volkner, sending the two of them toppling to the floor. The waitresses in the area had all rushed away, presumably a bit frightened by the fight - and it struck Gardenia that they might be calling local authorities. She watched for a few more moments as Cyrus and Volkner wrestled each other on the ground, before walking over to them and delivering a firm kick toward Cyrus's stomach the moment she saw it exposed.

"Volkner," she said. "Get up."

Volkner listened, surprisingly. Cyrus was supporting himself by his knees and a single palm, his other hands grasping his stomach.

"It's time for us to get out of here," Gardenia said. "Volkner, leave a fifty on the table for the bill. Overpayin', but I say who the hell cares right now. Mars, I'd suggest you help Cyrus up and leave too."

Volkner reached into his pockets and pulled out a fifty dollar bill, set it on the table and then recalled his three Pokemon. Gardenia, Jasmine and Mana followed suit in returning their Pokemon, and the four of them headed toward the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

four days later

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Volkner stared at what remained of his fortune in the pockets of his wallet, a desperate sadness in his eyes. A grand total of two hundred Pokedollars out of the three thousand that he had gone into the department store with.

He leaned up against the wall of the department store, zipped his wallet shut and slipped it back into his bag. He sighed, and watched the people walk by on the streets of Veilstone City, at a slightly lower elevation than them, for the department store rested on a hill. He supposed the spending spree was for good reason - a lot of it was toward supplies, an awful lot of dried Pokechow and canned people food, as well as a few advanced pieces of technology for the four of them, including new phones and small rectangular-shaped devices called Pokedexes.

"Hey, hey," Mana said as she approached him. She had been standing from a bit of a distance, but now leaned up against the wall with him, a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about the cash. I have an awful lot stored up in the bank. And, you know, with modern technology, we can withdraw it anywhere."

"Yeah, I suppose," Volkner muttered. "... But still, twenty-eight hundred in one sitting? ****ing amazing how well you women can spend."

This earned him a light slap against the back of the head. Oddly enough, it cheered him up a bit, and he grinned.

The two of them were waiting while Jasmine and Gardenia checked out a place for possible free lodging for the four of them. And just at that moment, Gardenia could be seen walking up to them and slowly nodding her head in confirmation.

The girl then broke the embrace, and waggled her finger in an adorable disapproval. "I decided that I wanna be called by my full name from now on. May is my little name! 'n' I'm getting bigger!"

Volkner, in the sidelines, massaged his temples. Why couldn't they just stay at a freaking Pokemon Center? It was a big city, Volkner realized, abuzz with trainer activity, which meant that the Pokemon Center required a small fee, but it was much more worth it to him. He never would understand these girls.

The next day, only two of the group of four were left in the house. They would be staying another night, but two of the four of them had business in the city that needed to be taken care of.

Namely, Volkner and Mana were headed toward the Veilstone City Gym. They currently walked the streets of the city, speaking in low tones of voice, just barely audible to each other.

"I have a question, Volkner," Mana said. "Do you understand now?"

"Partially," Volkner responded. "I understand... you dropped me in here to take care of the blue annoyance, right?"

Mana nodded.

"One thing I don't understand, is why. But I suppose you're not going to reveal that to me, are you?" he said.

Mana shook her head.

"Thought not. Another thing I don't understand is how you knew he was going to go and do what he's doing. But I suppose you're not going to reveal that to me either, are you?"

"In due time," Mana said. "In due time."

The two of them reached the gym a few seconds later. It had an odd appearance compared to the usual image of a Pokemon Gym: it was made of wood, first thing off. It had a sign above it, also wood, hanging from two rusted metal poles, reading "GYM" in peeling red paint. It also had no door, and even though it was perfect daylight outside, the two of them couldn't see an ounce of anything but sheer darkness inside.

Volkner folded his arms over his chest and moved toward the door. Mana followed suit.

Last edited by D. Scott; 30th January 2011 at 2:55 AM.

Though probably obvious with the picture, I was formerly known as IanDonyer. Actually got a username closer to my real name, now.

"Yeah, I suppose," Volkner muttered. "... But still, twenty-eight hundred in one sitting? ****ing amazing how well you women can spend."

we sure do!

Marsha-"

"Mars," Mars interrupted.

do i smell a running gag?

Cyrus rushed forward, arms outstretched. He slammed into Volkner, sending the two of them toppling to the floor. The waitresses in the area had all rushed away, presumably a bit frightened by the fight - and it struck Gardenia that they might be calling local authorities. She watched for a few more moments as Cyrus and Volkner wrestled each other on the ground, before walking over to them and delivering a firm kick toward Cyrus's stomach the moment she saw it exposed.

me & my luv 4 violence

btw,i am notorious 4 accidentally skipping words/complete lines which is how i missed the misspelling joke

Last edited by #1TransendTrainer; 31st January 2011 at 3:20 AM.

I am the Kingdom of Norway in the Hetalia Fan Club

Spoiler:- Credit:

(Pic not mine. Found on zerochan)

The Boston Tea Party-Hetalia Style

Originally posted by mariobrosvswariobros
I think it would be chibi America dumping tea down the toilet

Originally posted by TeamRocketGrunt
Yeah, he'd be all like "Why are you dumping my prized tea?! My mumsie always-" and then America would carry on. Hahahahaha!

He continued to crawl despite it. His muscles ached, his skin was agonizingly searing, and the world around him was full of chaos. But he couldn't tell a thing.

I'm not sure what you mean by the last sentence. In reference to him not feeling the stuff you listed earlier in this paragraph? I guess I found it kind of weird that he seems to be aware of his bodily ... issues then you throw in a “Wait, he can't tell” sort of line. I think. Not sure.

But he only knew he hated that blue-haired man riding on the head of the beast, because that blue-haired man was the controller of that beast and the beast had done this. He had done it all, and he wanted to make the blue-haired man pay.

Personally, I would get rid of the “but” since the sentence before it also started with a “but.” (That and you're not really contrasting anything.) Anyway, the problem with having two nameless characters of the same sex is that you have to use the same pronouns (“he” in this case) so it gets confusing to who you're referencing. Of course, people can use their better judgment and assume that “he” = blue-haired man in certain contexts, but it might be better to try and only use “he” for the hurting character and “blue-haired man” for the ... blue-haired man. (I do get why you did it, though; “blue-haired man” does get repetitive. =P)

“Child, come with me!” she nearly screamed. The boy was unable to follow her wishes, though... he couldn't move on his own anymore. His body was writhing with the white-hot pain, the agony of damaged tissue and the acrid smell of smoking flesh.

No need for the “the” in bold. Also, nice description. Er, in the creepy, holy crap sort of way.

It was nice to see Mana again and to see how she works, as bizarre as she is. T'was an interesting prediction by Celebi (I'm going to guess Cyrus and Volkner). And yay, Flint is possibly coming soon. I totally forgot that Flint and Volkner seemed to be close friends in the games, so I'm super intrigued on how you're going to have them interact with each other.

I also like how Flint is oddly romantic in his dreams. Haha.

Anyway, onward to chapter whatever is after this!

Spoiler:- chapter nine:

But it was the least of his concerns; it was a bit more important that, towering above him was a Gallade, its elbow-blades barred fiercely as if it was intent on slitting Volkner's throat with them.

No need for the comma after “that.” Kind of jumbles the sentence if you keep it.

He had been taken here to die an agonizingly slow death.

Hurrah! (Kinda.)

Snake-girl seemed a little hesitant, but she too returned her Pokemon after the caramel brown girl did as well.

Bahaha, snake-girl.

"Heh. Attacking two innocent little ladies, eh?" Flint said between breaths. "I oughta beat your butt into the ground for such a heinous crime."

Ah, so Flint is definitely more “Ladies' man” compared to Volkner and Cyrus.

Mags opened up his mouth, looked skyward, and shot three bursts of a chunky looking liquid upward into the sky, where it came raining down: Gardevoir teleported out of the way, and the lava landed on the ground with a hot hiss. Gallade lifted up his arm to provide a protective shield... and Flare was hit with the third.

The intensity of the orange aura around Flare's body increased, and he slammed right into an unsuspecting Galade made too busy to dodge by the flames pouring down on him, knocking him down to his knees and eventually right onto his face.

Missed an “l” in “Gallade.”

it's skin, dark and leathery.

Its. “It's” is a contraction for “it is” if that helps.

"Hounds, c'mere," Flint said and then knelt down to whisper something in his ear. The hound nodded and ran over toward the battle field.

So Hounds for a Houndour, Flare for a Flareon, and Mags for a Magmar. Flint is possibly the most creative nickname giver ever. I probably should have suspected that with calling Jasmine “Snake Girl” though. =P

"... Understood. It's -your- bounty," the man muttered.

Is it bad that I misread “bounty” as “booty?” XP

It sat there after being released, staring at him curiously, its black eyes wide and almost adorable enough to the point where Volkner smiled. It was a he, Volkner believed.

"... Hey little guy," Volkner murmured, allowing himself to extend a hand. "You get the wonderful ****in' company of good ol' me in this god damned place."

Despite his foul language, Eevee didn't seem to mind and ended up approaching Volkner's hand, gently rubbing his head against his palm. And oddly enough, Volkner found himself liking it.

He shuddered and drew his hand away. "... Don't think you'll get that often," he muttered. Eevee replied by plopping soundly down onto the stone floor and staring up at Volkner happily.

"Veee!~" it chirped.

Volkner smiled, then reversed it. What the hell? He was becoming rather attracted to the little guy already -- he'd have to fix that. He slipped his thumb onto the release/return switch of his Pokeball, and returned the brown-furred critter before getting up and continuing to explore the area.

This scene was adorable. Was nice to see Volkner in a bit of a different light and then his disgust after realizing wtf he had just done.

Flint moved past her and tossed something backward. "Fine. But if yer guy is really an electric-buff like you say he is, take it to him. I found it explorin' the place, and I don't need it, sooo..."

Flint walked off, Mags walking happily beside him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Gardenia looked at the object with a bit of awe. It was a light green stone with a yellow indentation in the middle in the shape of a thunderbolt.

I don't think you need the scene break there, actually. You already stated that Flint is out of the picture (for now), so separating the scene with him and the girls and the scene of just the girls with a scene break seems kind of ... redundant.

Anyway, neat chapter to tie up chapter eight's loose ends. Glad Volkner is all right (for now), though I wonder why he was dropped off there in the first place. I also wonder who this guy was and why he only battled Jasmine and Gardenia instead of throwing them with Volkner.

I like Flint; he definitely seems to be a bit more experienced in battle with the tactic he tried to pull earlier (by the way, have I told you how much I like your battle sequences? They're never boring and you always seem to throw in some interesting spin in them. So many writers just have the trainers bark commands without thinking of strategy, so I'm super glad you incorporated some sort of tactic). I can't help but wonder why he seemed so determined to help these girls because of that dream but didn't seem to fight with them in order to stay and help Volkner. But I have a feeling we'll see him soon anyway. =P

Spoiler:- chapter ten:

He couldn't do a damn thing with the explosion having injured him; he had no breathe left to use. He hit the ground and couldn't get the sight of his best friend being cut through like tissue paper, the ground turning from brown to crimson... and he watched with horror as the two Pokemon ignored his corpse.

Breath instead of breathe. This is horrifying, and in some ways I'm glad you didn't go into extreme detail. Even with the few details you do have, you still get how terrifying it must be to be in Volkner's position.

Volkner hit the ground with a thud, and lay there, the image embedded in his mind forever. Ivan Firme, cut clean in two.

My face is literally D:

Her legs ached miserably from all the walking she had been doing: she wasn't used to this kind of excersise all in one day, having started walking from Hearthome all the way to the Solaceon Ruins and through basically with no rest.

“Exercise” instead of “excersise”

"That's good..." a shy voice said. Jasmine, Volkner recognized - that shy voice was unmistakable. He kind of liked the sound of it.

"Alright! Our lil' boy'll be just fine, huh?" a thick accent said. Also unmistakable was the annoying voice of Gardenia. "Sucks he'll be sore, but ain't nothin' big, right?"

Haha, love this bit. You can pretty much sum up the relationship between Volkner and Jasmine and Volkner and Gardenia with these two paragraphs.

Loads of information with this chapter. The scene with Volkner and Ivan was especially eye-opening and horrifying; I figure it was this event that made Volkner see pokemon in the way he does now. I liked that scene a lot since it seemed to demonstrate your writing ability. You characterized Volkner in a more innocent way (I can't help but wonder what he would be like if he never saw that happening), so his reaction to the events happening before him made it all the more terrifying. Likewise, the actual physical description wasn't stomach-turning but you still got the basic gist of how gruesome and scary it was, especially when Ivan was attacked.
Also, it's nice that Volkner, even as a younger kid, usually winds up in a hospital if he stays outdoors for too long. Haha.

Oh and yet another hospital visit! This seems to be a running gag now. =P Still amusing stuff. What will it take to kill this kid?

Should be interesting to see Mana interact with Volkner in a more ... real-world way (or whatever). Already he seems bitter. I wonder if he'll be able to keep his **** together.

Spoiler:- chapter eleven:

"The dreams of your friend? Or me?" A tone of legitimate curiosity was evident in her voice, and Volkner let loose a frustrated groan.

So she knew of his dreams.

"Of course I do," she responded. "You should know me better than that by now." A grin had crossed her lips, met by a scowl from Volkner.

So she can read minds too? D:

I like Mana. I know when I read the prologue, I thought it was Jasmine you were referring to, and in a way it kind of was, at least physically wise. Technically, I seem to like any character that grinds Volkner the wrong way, just because I love seeing his reaction. (Though that isn't to say I don't like the awkward, silent moments between Volkner and Jasmine – those are amusing in their own way.)

"I'm going to form a team. It's going to have to be huge, like the Rocket Gang of Kanto - it'll be shunned. It will be criminal. But to defy the law is a cost well-worth it; this team is going to work toward capturing these five Pokemon. And when we do, I will destroy this world."

Was Team Galactic originally suppose to appear criminal? I mean, I know they were, what with blowing up lakes and taking over businesses, but I felt like they wanted to disguise themselves as something good in order to not be pried into too much. I know they had commercials playing on TV in the Jubilife area.

Eventually, the four of them reached a three-way road. To te north, they spotted two things:

The

Volkner stared at the variety of people around him, and wanted to get up and scream. He was tired, frustrated and now stuck in one hell of a position: Really, could his luck get any worse?

Yes.
Some complicated stuff with this one; it seems like Volkner is juggling so many secrets along with figuring out which person knows whatever secret, like Cyrus being the only one knowing who Mana is, and Volker, Cyrus, and possibly Mars (like the spin on her name, btw) knowing about Cyrus' new goal. There were some intriguing conversations going on, especially with Volkner and Mana. I also kind of like the small bit of dialogue between Jasmine and Volkner; I figure his attitude toward pokemon is eventually going to be noticed by sweet little Jasmine, and I have a feeling she's not going to like it.

I think Volkner mentioned this earlier himself, but I like how Gardenia is slowly taking control of the group and becoming its new leader, though possibly not surprising since Volkner is an idiot at times and Jasmine is shy. She's like the moral compass of the group in some ways. Plus her accent is awesome.

Spoiler:- chapter twelve:

He grinned. It was giddy, simple and happy, as he looked at her. It made her shrink back a bit.

It is an interesting contrast, this so-giddy-it's-almost-creepy Cyrus compared to his quiet, but logical, self. Glad Gardenia immediately picked up on his bizarre attitude change.

"Eliminate anger! Eliminate lust! Eliminate all earthly wants - create a world without the strife that causes wars! Causes death, causes pain! It sounds wonderful, does it not? Gardenia, I told Volkner last night that my plans... are to perform this. Create this ideal world. Create a Galactic Sanctuary, where no man suffers. But I can not do such a tremendous undertaking on my own. I will require help, and Marsha-"

I like this bit. I know it seems bizarre to say that, but I've read so many stories where they make Cyrus' plan seem like a bad idea with bad intentions when really he does have some sort of good intention in there, even if the plan itself is insane.

"You must have one hell of an issue with people, Cyrus," Gardenia stated, standing up as well. "'cause I can't see why anyone would go through such insane measures. Bad things leave scars sometimes, but just 'cause they do, doesn't mean you don't have the option 'ta just forget 'em! You -will- get over it."

I do kind of hope you go into Cyrus' childhood/past experiences in the same way you did with Volkner since he is such a complicated character. But I wouldn't put it past you not to do that anyway.

You know, I can't help but marvel at how you said Cyrus was kind of randomly placed with the group and how well it worked out. (Do you have this story planned out or are you rolling with the punches? Lol.) I think having him friends with at least Volkner and Gardenia makes it more realistic that he would ask his friends for help instead of him just randomly asking strangers.

Volkner stood up next. He apparently decided to take the more direct route of telling Cyrus that he was thinking too high, a bit too high up on his mental pedestal.

Because his route was cocking back his elbow and then thrusting a fist straight into the blue-haired boy's face.

Bahaha. Nice.

"It's time for us to get out of here," Gardenia said. "Volkner, leave a fifty on the table for the bill. Overpayin', but I say who the hell cares right now. Mars, I'd suggest you help Cyrus up and leave too."

Love how you're throwing in all these characters. It makes logical/plausible sense, too. It's fun to see them in a younger light.

So the slow transformation of Cyrus from friend to ... enemy, in a way, was pretty believable. I like how Jasmine was the first one to stand up and voice her opinion. I love how everything is starting to click together, like the purpose of Mana and the earlier premonition scene of Cyrus. On a kind of more random note, I like how you portrayed Mars, too, as a sort of ... I don't even know the word. Giddy about Cyrus' idea in the same way Cyrus is, but in a more ... fangirlish sort of way?

I'm not sure what you mean by the last sentence. In reference to him not feeling the stuff you listed earlier in this paragraph? I guess I found it kind of weird that he seems to be aware of his bodily ... issues then you throw in a “Wait, he can't tell” sort of line. I think. Not sure.

Touche. 'tis what I get for writing this in a grand total of five minutes, though, I suppose (the entire "chapter").

Personally, I would get rid of the “but” since the sentence before it also started with a “but.” (That and you're not really contrasting anything.) Anyway, the problem with having two nameless characters of the same sex is that you have to use the same pronouns (“he” in this case) so it gets confusing to who you're referencing. Of course, people can use their better judgment and assume that “he” = blue-haired man in certain contexts, but it might be better to try and only use “he” for the hurting character and “blue-haired man” for the ... blue-haired man. (I do get why you did it, though; “blue-haired man” does get repetitive. =P)

Will do. I suppose it's better to be a little repetitive for purpose of clarity. =o

No need for the “the” in bold. Also, nice description. Er, in the creepy, holy crap sort of way.

=D I tend to enjoy writing morbid descriptions like this a little more than I should. Removing the "the".

It was nice to see Mana again and to see how she works, as bizarre as she is. T'was an interesting prediction by Celebi (I'm going to guess Cyrus and Volkner). And yay, Flint is possibly coming soon. I totally forgot that Flint and Volkner seemed to be close friends in the games, so I'm super intrigued on how you're going to have them interact with each other.

As for who the two in the scene are, you'll have to wait and see. And yes, Mana is bizarre, but she's cool. :3

I also like how Flint is oddly romantic in his dreams. Haha.

Anyway, onward to chapter whatever is after this!

Spoiler:- chapter nine:

No need for the comma after “that.” Kind of jumbles the sentence if you keep it.

Right'o.

Hurrah! (Kinda.)

Hurrah indeed!~

Bahaha, snake-girl.

Ah, so Flint is definitely more “Ladies' man” compared to Volkner and Cyrus.

So Hounds for a Houndour, Flare for a Flareon, and Mags for a Magmar. Flint is possibly the most creative nickname giver ever. I probably should have suspected that with calling Jasmine “Snake Girl” though. =P

It stems only from my lack of creativity with nicknames as well.

Is it bad that I misread “bounty” as “booty?” XP

Not at all. It actually kind of makes sense that way too. =o

This scene was adorable. Was nice to see Volkner in a bit of a different light and then his disgust after realizing wtf he had just done.

I don't think you need the scene break there, actually. You already stated that Flint is out of the picture (for now), so separating the scene with him and the girls and the scene of just the girls with a scene break seems kind of ... redundant.

I suppose so. I'll remove it.

Anyway, neat chapter to tie up chapter eight's loose ends. Glad Volkner is all right (for now), though I wonder why he was dropped off there in the first place. I also wonder who this guy was and why he only battled Jasmine and Gardenia instead of throwing them with Volkner.

I like Flint; he definitely seems to be a bit more experienced in battle with the tactic he tried to pull earlier (by the way, have I told you how much I like your battle sequences? They're never boring and you always seem to throw in some interesting spin in them. So many writers just have the trainers bark commands without thinking of strategy, so I'm super glad you incorporated some sort of tactic). I can't help but wonder why he seemed so determined to help these girls because of that dream but didn't seem to fight with them in order to stay and help Volkner. But I have a feeling we'll see him soon anyway. =P

=D Thanks.

Spoiler:- chapter ten:

Breath instead of breathe. This is horrifying, and in some ways I'm glad you didn't go into extreme detail. Even with the few details you do have, you still get how terrifying it must be to be in Volkner's position.

BREATHE/BREATH. HATE. I still can't get it memorized. ;-;

My face is literally D:

“Exercise” instead of “excersise”

Right'o.

Haha, love this bit. You can pretty much sum up the relationship between Volkner and Jasmine and Volkner and Gardenia with these two paragraphs.

Loads of information with this chapter. The scene with Volkner and Ivan was especially eye-opening and horrifying; I figure it was this event that made Volkner see pokemon in the way he does now. I liked that scene a lot since it seemed to demonstrate your writing ability. You characterized Volkner in a more innocent way (I can't help but wonder what he would be like if he never saw that happening), so his reaction to the events happening before him made it all the more terrifying. Likewise, the actual physical description wasn't stomach-turning but you still got the basic gist of how gruesome and scary it was, especially when Ivan was attacked.
Also, it's nice that Volkner, even as a younger kid, usually winds up in a hospital if he stays outdoors for too long. Haha.

XD

Oh and yet another hospital visit! This seems to be a running gag now. =P Still amusing stuff. What will it take to kill this kid?

Should be interesting to see Mana interact with Volkner in a more ... real-world way (or whatever). Already he seems bitter. I wonder if he'll be able to keep his **** together.

Spoiler:- chapter eleven:

So she can read minds too? D:

I like Mana. I know when I read the prologue, I thought it was Jasmine you were referring to, and in a way it kind of was, at least physically wise. Technically, I seem to like any character that grinds Volkner the wrong way, just because I love seeing his reaction. (Though that isn't to say I don't like the awkward, silent moments between Volkner and Jasmine – those are amusing in their own way.)

I know, right? Volkner's amusing to see when he's annoyed.

Was Team Galactic originally suppose to appear criminal? I mean, I know they were, what with blowing up lakes and taking over businesses, but I felt like they wanted to disguise themselves as something good in order to not be pried into too much. I know they had commercials playing on TV in the Jubilife area.

Cyrus is confiding in friends. He's not gonna rush out to the -public- and say it's criminal.

The

Got'cha.

Yes.

XD

Some complicated stuff with this one; it seems like Volkner is juggling so many secrets along with figuring out which person knows whatever secret, like Cyrus being the only one knowing who Mana is, and Volker, Cyrus, and possibly Mars (like the spin on her name, btw) knowing about Cyrus' new goal. There were some intriguing conversations going on, especially with Volkner and Mana. I also kind of like the small bit of dialogue between Jasmine and Volkner; I figure his attitude toward pokemon is eventually going to be noticed by sweet little Jasmine, and I have a feeling she's not going to like it.

All the more to AlexandrianShip with, my pretty. Kekeke.

I think Volkner mentioned this earlier himself, but I like how Gardenia is slowly taking control of the group and becoming its new leader, though possibly not surprising since Volkner is an idiot at times and Jasmine is shy. She's like the moral compass of the group in some ways. Plus her accent is awesome.

Her accent is -not- awesome. It's amazing. I love those thick country accents. No idea what inspired me to give her the accent, but...

Spoiler:- chapter twelve:

It is an interesting contrast, this so-giddy-it's-almost-creepy Cyrus compared to his quiet, but logical, self. Glad Gardenia immediately picked up on his bizarre attitude change.

I like this bit. I know it seems bizarre to say that, but I've read so many stories where they make Cyrus' plan seem like a bad idea with bad intentions when really he does have some sort of good intention in there, even if the plan itself is insane.

I know, right? Cyrus isn't a bad guy. Never was in any canon to my knowledge; just a misguided man with good intentions.

I do kind of hope you go into Cyrus' childhood/past experiences in the same way you did with Volkner since he is such a complicated character. But I wouldn't put it past you not to do that anyway.

It will be explored. A guy just doesn't burst out into the world and want to do something so noble when he grew up in Wonderland.

You know, I can't help but marvel at how you said Cyrus was kind of randomly placed with the group and how well it worked out. (Do you have this story planned out or are you rolling with the punches? Lol.) I think having him friends with at least Volkner and Gardenia makes it more realistic that he would ask his friends for help instead of him just randomly asking strangers.

I have a general layout, an idea of where I want this story to go. But a lot of the things I do in this story are completely and totally off a whim. I just sit down in front of a keyboard, think and type and go with whatever the hell comes out sometimes. =/

And yeah. Team Galactic isn't gonna get big for a while - he'll actually have to discreetly recruit members for the higher ranks (namely, at the moment, Jupiter and somehow managing to recruit the currently AWOL Saturn). So no strangers will be involved for a while.

Bahaha. Nice.

I KNOW, RIGHT?

Good ole Gardenia takin' control.

Love how you're throwing in all these characters. It makes logical/plausible sense, too. It's fun to see them in a younger light.

So the slow transformation of Cyrus from friend to ... enemy, in a way, was pretty believable. I like how Jasmine was the first one to stand up and voice her opinion. I love how everything is starting to click together, like the purpose of Mana and the earlier premonition scene of Cyrus. On a kind of more random note, I like how you portrayed Mars, too, as a sort of ... I don't even know the word. Giddy about Cyrus' idea in the same way Cyrus is, but in a more ... fangirlish sort of way?

The inside of the gym lit up the moment they passed through, but only barely. It seemed the place was lit by motion-sensing electric candles, their plastic glowing slightly in the dim light of the light bulbs inside their "flame". As they stood there, getting their bearings, the sound of footfall against creaky wooden floors echoed in their ears.

From the darkness, a figure stepped forward.

He stood at what Volkner estimated to be a little under six feet tall, his wide figure draped by a black robe, a hood covering his face. He slipped it off with a single, coarse-looking hand to reveal a short buzzcut head of red hair. His eyes were jet black, his gaze firm and authoritative.

"Hello," he said. "Are you visitors or challengers?" His voice was baritone, intimidating.

"Challengers," Volkner said.

"Ah," the man replied. "Can I get your names then? In return, mine will be given as well."

Volkner nodded. "Alright then, Cimmeri," he said. "Let's get down to business. What type do you specialize in?"

"He specializes in dark types," Mana said.

"The young lady has done her homework," Cimmeri said, the slightest hint of a smile tugging at his lips. "Yes, I am a dark-type specialist."

"Heh. Okay then, this shouldn't be too hard..." Volkner mused.

Cimmeri allowed himself a full smile. "As if. Now, young Miss Aname, let's see if you deserve an A or a C on that homework of yours."

Mana spoke up. "Before one can challenge Leader Cimmeri, they must pass through a test. It's a simple but demanding one - find the light switch. There is one configured for each set of two electric candles as only a quarter of them are lit by motion sensory devices; once all lights in the gym are on, the challenger can battle the Leader."

"A-plus," Cimmeri said. "Impressive."

Mana nodded quickly. "I don't go against such foes as gym leaders without studying them first."

Volkner couldn't help but think that this was a bold-faced lie.

"Now of course, I'm a dark-type specialist. Therefore, only a quarter of them is one set. Which means..."

It hit Volkner. "The ones in the entrance are the only motion-lit ones, and there are only a total of eight electric candles in the gym. You're a dark-type specialist... so of course, this place has got to be dark..."

Cimmeri clapped for a few seconds. "Mister Denzi has got it! Now, I'll be heading back to the main arena - and you'd best not keep me waiting long. You guys look like people who could easily take down my gym trainers..."

He scoffed afterward as if what he said was funny. Then he turned around and walked off.

Volkner sighed, and stepped forward, past where the light from the candles shone through. He walked into the complete and total darkness, a hand on one of the walls to keep a steady path. This place was not only dark, but it was apparently in a maze... it would require more than groping around in the dark to find these light switches.

Only the sounds of his and Mana's footfall could be heard, as the two of them moved through the halls. That was, at least, for the first few minutes. As they continued to stumble around blindly, a voice could be heard, speaking in low whispers. It grew steadily in volume, until it was normal audibility. But suddenly, the source of sound changed subjects.

"Have your eyes adjusted to the dark yet...?" a voice asked. "I'd sure hope so... otherwise, well, you wouldn't be any fun to battle, would you?"

Mana spoke next. "My eyes can see decently. A gym trainer, I assume?"

"... You may call me Tamara. Yes, I am a gym trainer. Shall we get your defeat over with...?"

The sound of a Pokeball being unhooked from a belt met Volkner's ears, and a momentary flash of light from the release of a Pokemon illuminated the area for a split second: long enough so that Volkner saw that their opponent was indeed a woman, with long black hair obviously badly kept, a cap concealing her eyes.

Mana tossed forth her own Pokeball then. Volkner only assumed it was her Kirlia, and sighed.

This was going to be a while. Cimmeri had designed this gym with total genius.

Mana spoke. "Volkner, go off to find the next light switch. We'll get things done quicker this way. I'll call you when I beat this girl and get the light switched on, as well you should when you find the next one. Once one of us finds the third, we'll meet up at the central arena. Understood?"

Volkner understood the plan, but did not understand why Mana seemed to be putting so much effort into this. Perhaps to keep up the facade of traveling for the purpose of the gym circuit.

"Alright," Volkner said. He stuck his hands into his pockets and began to walk for the north, removing his hand as soon as he felt a wall coming close. He wished his eyes would adjust to the darkness already: he could just barely see his own hand in front of his face.

He continued walking for a good few minutes, shouting an occasional, "Speak up if you're there!" but receiving no response. Finally, his phone rang, and as he pulled it out and pressed it against his ear, an idea hit him. He nearly smacked himself on the forehead for it, but supposed that would sound ridiculous to Mana.

"Figured out you could use the phone's light, huh?" Mana asked immediately.
GOD DAMN PSYCHIC.

"Now, watch your language, young man," Mana said in a teasing tone.

"Shut up. You beat the girl?" Volkner asked.

"Yep. And found out something interesting - each gym trainer gives clues to the location of the next light. They're simple riddles. Hers is, 'the escapee's path of choice. Pick its opposite.'"

"The logical assumption is that someone would escape through the front door. So... the opposite is the back door. The back of the gym."

"Correct," Mana said. "I'm gonna stay here and wait. Call me back when you find the next clue."

Mana hung up.

Volkner placed his phone out in front of him and moved through its light, until he finally found what he believed to be the back of the gym. He was correct, as a moment later, he came across a person with a hood on their head, who looked up at him as the light hit him. A grin crossed the person's lips.

"Yep," Volkner said. "And for some reason, I doubt you'll be much tougher."

The person nodded slowly. "I see. We'll just have to prove you wrong then. My name is Jason."

Volkner unhooked a Pokeball from his belt. "Well then, let's get this party started, shall we Jason?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

bang bang
bang bang bang
BANG BANG

"Jeez!" Maylene cried. "Hold on a second! Someone's coming!"

Maylene sighed in annoyance, walking over toward the door and turning the knob. She pulled the door back and looked at the person standing in front of her with a dagger-like gaze. "Will you have some patience, guy?"

The man looked down at her, and scoffed. "Forgive me. Volkner Denzi is staying here currently, isn't he? I'm... a friend of his."

He was an odd looking man, dressed a t-shirt and jeans, with a u-shaped blue hairstyle.

"Yeah," Maylene said. "But he's at the gym with that girly. Maybe you should go there instead."

The man nodded. "I will."

He turned around and walked off.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~

Volkner grinned, returning his Pokemon and hooking the Pokeball back up to his belt.

"Wrong, hm?" Volkner gloated. "Too friggin' easy."

Jason scowled, turning to the side and flipping on the light switch. A dim light suddenly rushed through the area, allowing more visibility on all sides.

"The clue," Jason said. "Is 'opposite from the original'. Good luck solving it."

Volkner scoffed and pulled out his phone, pressing a few buttons then placing it against his ear.

"Nice job," Mana said instantly. "As for the next clue, well..."

"Opposite the original."

"Right. I'll take care of it. Wait for me in the central arena."

Volkner flipped the phone shut and headed for the central arena. Once he got there, he saw a steel door with four bulbs around it. Three of them were lit.

He sighed, leaned up against the wall, and awaited Mana's victory.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Some time passed before it happened. Volkner supposed it was simply a tough battle: but eventually, the light outside the door did pop on, and in-turn, the steel door slid open with the slight grinding sound of metal on metal.

Volkner walked inside. He had to move down a massive flight of steps, but eventually reached a room down in the depths of the ground.

In the center of the room was an arena, illuminated only by a small square of red lights. Volkner was glad for their dim guidance: he had went down the flight of steps in utter darkness. He had worried the entire way about tripping and hurting himself.

He walked up the smaller flight of steps up to the arena, and stared for a few moments at the figure waiting for him there.

"You and Miss Aname were the only duo smart enough to actually work together," Cimmeri said. "I've got to commend you two for that. But beating me won't be so easy!"

Cimmeri unhooked a Pokeball from his belt, and pressed the release switch with his thumb. The ball expanded and popped open, sending forth a flash of white light to further illuminate the area, albeit only momentarily.

In the darkness, Volkner had mild trouble identifying the opposing Pokemon. It was black, he could tell, with something red on its head.

Volkner removed a Pokeball from his pocket, and tossed his arm forward, thumb against the release switch. From the burst of light the Pokeball sent out, Elekid materialized, his body providing another source of dim lighting.

Volkner wanted to punch himself in the face. He hadn't even thought of that. But he grinned in response, nodding in order to provide a facade of knowing just what the hell he was doing. "Of course."

"You know the rules of the gym battles, I assume? The first one to have no Pokemon able to battle wins. The challenger is allowed to rotate Pokemon. I am not."

"Right."

"Then let's go! Sneasel, use Icy Wind!"

Sneasel opened up his mouth and shot forth a small gust of breath, the air condensing enough to be visible in the frigid temperature of the attack.

Elekid lifted his arms in front of his face, forming an X-shaped guard. The icy wind hit him dead-on, but he seemed to shrug off its effects.

"Good guard, Elekid!" Volkner praised, though a second later he almost -did- punch himself in the face for it. "Now, let's retaliate with a Swift attack!"

Elekid let his jaw fall, putting a single hand in front of his mouth. He spat out a small collection of star-shaped energy discs, each which landed in his hand. Elekid then ran forward toward Sneasel and began to run circles around him, every few seconds tossing forth one of the discs. Each one connected perfectly, despite Sneasel's attempts to guard himself.

Sneasel came out of the barrage with small cuts all over his body, each one oozing a strange blueish-red colored blood.

Cimmeri grinned. "Nice. But not nice enough! Sneasel, give it a Faint Attack!"

Sneasel calmly began to walk forward, until he came to a baffled Elekid. He then extended a hand in request of what appeared to be a handshake.

"... What the hell is it doing?" Volkner thought.

Elekid blinked once or twice, before nodding slowly and extending his own hand.

Which proved to be a mistake.

Elekid's hand was grabbed with a fierce amount of strength and drawn in close to Sneasel, before the Ice-type hit the opposing Pokemon with a fierce punch by his free hand.

Elekid was not released, however. He was held firm, struggling to break free of Sneasel's icy cold grip, but it was fruitless.

"Now, while it's up close, use a Screech!" Cimmeri ordered.

Sneasel pulled Elekid in even closer, then let loose an eardrum-shattering scream.

Volkner clasped his hands over his ears, and in that moment, actually felt a swell of sympathy for Elekid, who obviously could not have protected himself in the slightest from the banshee-like howl.

"... Elekid, use Thunderpunch!"

Elekid took a few seconds to respond to Volkner's command, leaving Sneasel enough time to try and get away.

But Sneasel, evidently, could not. Elekid's grasp was now firm and fierce, and Sneasel writhed, trying to break free, but it was obviously not going to happen. Elekid used his free hand to deliver a strong blow toward Sneasel's stomach, moving so fast through the air that sparks of electricity surrounded it. The electrical energy grew as it moved forward, and the fist was very quickly covered by it as it drove into the opposing Pokemon's gut.

Sneasel fell limply into Elekid's arms, barely able to support himself. Elekid, however, was not finished. He tossed Sneasel upward, and before the Sharp Claw Pokemon could possibly even begin to fall, Elekid was doing a handstand, constantly shifting his position in a blur of expert speed. His legs were twirling.

And, as Sneasel fell toward Elekid's position, a Rolling Kick was what knocked it into unconsciousness.

"Impressive, Mister Denzi," Cimmeri said, a hint of awe evident in his voice.

Cimmeri returned his Pokemon, and unhooked another Pokeball from his belt. As he prepared to release it, though, something happened that left his and Volkner's mouths both gaping open.

"He's... evolving...?!" Volkner gasped.

Elekid was glowing a bright white, illuminating the room perfectly. Volkner could see his shape quickly growing larger, but at the same time more slender.

And as the light faded, the new form of Elekid was visible.

The Pokemon was roughly fifty percent larger than his old form, with a larger body (though not from fat - most of it was obviously muscle), with more defined legs, toes ending in small claws. His arms were more sleek, but still intimidatingly muscular. His ears had disappeared entirely. His body was covered in yellow fur, black stripes decorating it, including one in the shape of a thunderbolt on his torso.

From the pulsation of energy the new Pokemon emitted, his Pokedex turned on, droning in the darkness in its mechanical voice.

"Electabuzz, the Electric Pokemon," it said. "Electricity runs across the surface of its body. In darkness, its entire body glows a whitish-blue. Getting close to it will make your hair stand on end. It windmills it arms to slightly boost its punches: foes have been known to escape in the meantime. Half of all blackouts occur when this Pokemon appears at power plants and eats electricity."

Almost as if on cue, Electabuzz began to glow a whitish blue.

Volkner grinned from ear to ear.

"Alright, then," Cimmeri said. "I suppose we'll have to call for the big guns with this one!"

Cimmeri tossed his arm forward, and a bright flash of light was sent forth from the Pokeball in hand, materializing into a Pokemon.

It was about the same height as Electabuzz, but quadrupedal. It was covered in white fur, but the skin bare beneath it was jet black. On its head was a sickle-like horn. Its bright red eyes were gleaming with excitement.

Having turned on, Volkner's Pokedex automatically began to pull information on the next Pokemon too.

"Absol, the dis-"

Volkner shut it off. "Stupid thing..."

"Alright," Cimmeri commanded. "Absol, start this off with a Double Team!"

Absol instantly darted out of his original spot, running in circles around Electabuzz. Every other second, an after image was left behind, staying there in an odd form of shimmering solidity.

"Electabuzz, find the real one and shoot a Thundershock at it!"

This was easier said then done. Electabuzz turned around in circles a multitude of times, trying to differentiate the after image from the Pokemon, but to no avail. Electabuzz eventually settled for shooting a three-way Thundershock: one from each hand, and one from the mouth.

Three after images where eliminated.

"Keep up the Double Team!" Cimmeri shouted.

Volkner groaned. This was going to be a while.

And it was. Electabuzz kept eliminating after images, only for Absol to form more. But finally, the strategy was changed.

"Swords Dance, Absol!"

Absol's after images did not follow this command. Volkner realized it quick. And this was his chance.

Absol was on his rear legs, performing a strange dance, his paws waving back and forth while a small blue glow came from his stomach.

He shouted so loud that Cimmeri yelped in shock.

"IT'S GOT A FLAW! FIND THE REAL ONE, QUICK, ELECTABUZZ! HIT IT WITH A LOW KICK!"

Cimmeri's eyes widened as Electabuzz ran toward the exact thing he had been unable to hit for the past ten minutes of the fight: the real Absol.

Absol, by now, had gone back down to his hind legs, but Electabuzz was sliding on its arm toward him. Absol was sent off of the ground from the force of the kick, and as he fell, writhing in pain, Cimmeri called out the next order.

"And now for the Coup de Grace!" Cimmeri said. Volkner could tell the lack of confidence behind that statement. "Absol, Slash!"

Absol hit the ground with a thud, landing on all fours. He was panting visibly: watching it run, Volkner believed that perhaps the attack had broken or at least injured one of the Pokemon's legs. He ran toward Electabuzz with his head down, as did all of the after images. They appeared to have a better sync with Absol on more physical moves, Volkner observed.

"Alright," Volkner commanded. "Leap up, Electabuzz, as high as you can! Once in the air, produce as many Swift-Stars as you can and fire them! Don't worry about throwing!"

Electabuzz suddenly leaped into the air, watching as Absol skidded to a stop as he realized he wasn't going to hit his opponent. Electabuzz then opened up his mouth, and without worrying about throwing the stars, he shot a barrage of star-shaped rays toward the many after images covering the battlefield.

The number was decrease substantially. And, interestingly enough, the attack also appeared to hit the real Absol, as one of the images began to bleed.

"Fine! This is the last stand! Absol, slash it before it can hit you!"

Electabuzz hit the ground with a soft thud, finding the one that leaked a steady red liquid. Blood. He ran toward it, arms pinwheeling as he ran, generating a steady current of electricity toward his fists.

Absol dashed forward, ignoring the pain in his leg. His head was down, prepared to gut the opponent like a Stantler. His sickle-horn glowed a faint white.

The two hit each other in a collision of energy.

Electabuzz had his fists together, both charged with electrical power. A hammerfisted Thunder Punch. It had hit Absol good and hard, Absol now laying on the floor, totally immobile. The acrid smell of burned hair entered Volkner's nostrils: the attack had singed the Pokemon's fur.

But Absol had done some damage too. Electabuzz had a deep gash on his stomach. It was not serious, not even CLOSE to fatal, but it would hurt until Volkner got him to a Pokemon Center: not that Volkner really cared.

Electabuzz stumbled backward, and fell onto the ground, immobile.

"...And that was my only other Pokemon," Cimmeri said with a sigh. "But you have two left, don't you?"

"Yep."

Volkner pressed his thumb against the release switch of Electabuzz's Pokeball. The Pokemon returned in a flash of red light. Cimmeri did the same for his Absol.

"Then you, my friend, have earned the Absence Badge. You're a commendable battler. You also will receive another gift from me. The TM for Double Team."

Cimmeri reached into his pocket, pulling out a small black badge with a golden outline, circular in shape. In his other hand, he held a small white disc. He handed them both to Volkner, who thrust them into the pockets of his jeans.

"And what about you, Miss Aname?" Cimmeri asked.

Volkner wheeled around, suddenly becoming aware of the fact that Mana had arrived. He sighed, and moved down the steps of the arena.

She placed a hand on Volkner's shoulder, and Volkner instantly broke through the grasp.

"Right. It's a shame," Cimmeri said. "But I suppose to each his or her own. I'll see you two."

Volkner muttered a simple, "Sure."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Outside of the Gym, Volkner and Mana began to walk toward their place of residence.

"Nice job on the badge," Mana commented.

"... Yeah, yeah," Volkner muttered. He had to say though, that it did indeed feel amazing to have that small circular thing in his hand. It was a feeling that made him perceive power. He had won his first gym battle.

But his happiness wouldn't last for long. It was replaced with a searing pain in his shoulder. He felt the warm flow of blood, and then he heard the bang. He realized with horror... he had been shot.

Mana looked toward him with her eyes wide.

"Volkner, what- there's-"

Mana turned toward the nearby forest, and saw the blue-haired man rush toward Volkner. She had frozen in place, absolutely mortified. This wasn't supposed to happen.

The man was dressed in blue jeans and a gray shirt, covered by a black vest. His hair was blue, in an odd u-shape.

"...Saturn," Volkner muttered.

Mana looked down at Volkner, and the blood flowing from the wound in his right shoulder. The man stood in front of him, gleaming silver metal in his hand aimed toward Volkner's left shoulder: a gun.

Mana tried to move, but was still paralyzed with fear. She had not predicted this? How could she not have? She should have been able to feel the malice in the air-

She heard the bang. A second shot, this one lodging a bullet in Volkner's left side.

The sound of Volkner's scream broke her. The gentle flow of tears hit her cheeks.

"Now then," the man called Saturn said. "Young lady, you're going to take the boy's Pokeballs. You're going to break them. And then you are to turn around. Understood? It means the Body Builder will die if you don't."

Mana allowed herself a slow nod. She kneeled at Volkner's side, and gently began to remove the Pokeballs from Volkner's pockets. The familiar feeling of touching his flesh sent shivers down her spine. She couldn't believe she was about to let this happen.

She took the first Pokeball in her hand, and thrust it toward the ground. It cracked, breaking the release.

She took the second Pokeball and repeated the process. Her muscles grew weak with fear, tension and self-hatred.

She took the third Pokeball in her hand, and waited a few seconds.

"You're doing well so far, girl. Don't do something stupid."

She took the third Pokeball and pressed the release switch. A flash of light illuminated the area, and Mana heard the sound of Saturn speaking, but to her, it was all a blur of words, indecipherable. Her body moved on its own.

She heard the bang, and it all went black.

Last edited by D. Scott; 13th February 2011 at 5:36 PM.

Though probably obvious with the picture, I was formerly known as IanDonyer. Actually got a username closer to my real name, now.

Hey, I'm not complaining. I send the same characters over & over 2 the hospital. It's practically a running gag by now. Btw, Saturn has the U-shaped hair. Jupiter is a female unless this Jupiter is Saturn & he gets a name change

I am the Kingdom of Norway in the Hetalia Fan Club

Spoiler:- Credit:

(Pic not mine. Found on zerochan)

The Boston Tea Party-Hetalia Style

Originally posted by mariobrosvswariobros
I think it would be chibi America dumping tea down the toilet

Originally posted by TeamRocketGrunt
Yeah, he'd be all like "Why are you dumping my prized tea?! My mumsie always-" and then America would carry on. Hahahahaha!

Mana nodded quickly. "I don't go against such foes as gym leaders without studying them first."

Volkner couldn't help but think that this was a bold-faced lie.

Bahaha, I can't help but think the same thing.

Volkner understood the plan, but did understand why Mana seemed to be putting so much effort into this. Perhaps to keep up the facade of traveling for the purpose of the gym circuit.

Do you mean "did not understand why Mana seemed to be putting so much effort into this"?

In the center of the room was an arena, illuminated only by a small square of red lights. Volkner was glad for their dim guidance: he had went down the flight of steps in utter darkness. He had worried the entire way about tripping and hurting himself.

It wouldn't surprise me. XP Then again, Volkner's wounds seem to be more purposeful (to an extent) than accidental.

Sneasel opened up his mouth and shot forth a small gust of breathe

breath* =P

Elekid let his jaw fall, putting a single hand in front of his mouth. He spat out a small collection of star-shaped energy discs, each which landed in his hand. Elekid then ran forward toward Sneasel and began to run circles around him, every few seconds tossing forth one of the discs. Each one connected perfectly, despite Sneasel's attempts to guard himself.

That's a pretty neat interpretation/description of Swift. Sort of ninja-esque.

Sneasel calmly began to walk forward, until he came to a baffled Elekid. He then extended a hand in request of what appeared to be a handshake.

"... What the hell is it doing?" Volkner thought.

Elekid blinked once or twice, before nodding slowly and extending his own hand.

Which proved to be a mistake.

This one is interesting, too. Like, literally, "feint" no? I like it.

But this was not its finishing blow. Sneasel fell limply into Elekid's arms, barely able to support himself. Elekid, however, was not finished.

This is a little repetitive. You could delete the first sentence.

Having turned on, Volkner's Pokedex automatically began to pull information on the next Pokemon too.

But his happiness wouldn't last for long. It was replaced with a searing pain in his shoulder. He felt the warm flow of blood, and then he heard the bang. He realized with horror... he had been shot.

Amg. D:

Mana turned toward the nearby forest, and saw the blue-haired man rush toward Volkner. She had frozen in place, absolutely mortified. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Amg, things are off course. D: In some ways, I know I shouldn't be surprised since you already had Saturn in this chapter earlier, but somehow the battle made me forget about him until now.

Anyway, that was intense; I am still in awe of what happened. The battle scenes were executed well; they were unique and really interesting, so much so that I got really wrapped into it. I think that's why I'm still reeling from the scene following it; I really wasn't expecting it and the action of it was so swift but jarring at the same time. I seriously had so much to comment on with this chapter. I remember I was gonna comment on the unique structure of the gym challenge, the battle (which I kinda/sorta did), and Elekid's evolution, but now I'm like ... whoa, wtf just happened. I think it was pretty clever to do that, whether purposefully or not, to have an epic battle scene beforehand that takes your mind off that earlier scene with Saturn.

I don't know why I get such pleasure out of Volkner getting tossed around like a ragdoll.

Amg, things are off course. D: In some ways, I know I shouldn't be surprised since you already had Saturn in this chapter earlier, but somehow the battle made me forget about him until now.

Anyway, that was intense; I am still in awe of what happened. The battle scenes were executed well; they were unique and really interesting, so much so that I got really wrapped into it. I think that's why I'm still reeling from the scene following it; I really wasn't expecting it and the action of it was so swift but jarring at the same time. I seriously had so much to comment on with this chapter. I remember I was gonna comment on the unique structure of the gym challenge, the battle (which I kinda/sorta did), and Elekid's evolution, but now I'm like ... whoa, wtf just happened. I think it was pretty clever to do that, whether purposefully or not, to have an epic battle scene beforehand that takes your mind off that earlier scene with Saturn.

It was not at ALL intentional. Glad it worked. I just used the break in the scene because I didn't feel like writing the battle between Volkner and Jason. XD I originally intended for the Saturn scene to come in as a complete and total surprise: to happen out of the blue.

Can't wait til next chapter!

As always, thank you for the review, Breezy. Appreciate knowing someone is following this more than you know.

Chapter 14 is on its way quickly. I'd expect it by Wednesday at the latest.

Though probably obvious with the picture, I was formerly known as IanDonyer. Actually got a username closer to my real name, now.

Author's Notes: With the exclusion of the following lines of italics, everything in italics is done in a Pokemon's PoV. So you'll be seeing speech in English. It's not really English.

This wasn't supposed to happen!
He meant everything! He was going to be the one!
He was going to avenge it! Those horrible, horrible crimes!
I've got to stop it! I still need him!
STOP IT, LISA!
WAKE UP.
Wake up...
...
...wake up...

Lisa woke up into a dull world. She felt like an empty husk, no signs of life tangible to her: not even the rise and fall of her own chest. She tried to move her limbs, but the act was a fruitless labor.

She heard voices, though. Small voices, barely above a whisper individually, barely above a hum in their collective sound. She tried to open her mouth to respond to them, ask them to speak up and let her know just what was going on, but this too proved useless. So she lay there, allowing herself to soak in what was going on, even though she couldn't understand it a bit.

She blinked. The world's dull, swimming gray color began to clear some, the blur slowly disintegrating into a clearer picture. She saw light. The light of the sun? No, it couldn't have been that. It was too dim. The light was artificial, obviously so.

She blinked again, and the quality of the world continued to grow. It was still grainy, her existence like a picture behind a veil of a television's static. She could now hear the voices better.

"...ner...shot?...Yes...zi..."

"I...stand...though..."

"...holes...pave..."

"...but...resil..."

"... Resilience doesn't mean immunity, ma'am," a gruff voice said.

Another voice that was slightly high-pitched and obviously female, filled with tension, responded after a short pause. "...I suppose you're right. Damn it! I just... it doesn't seem possible..."

Lisa could see the world in a blurred but much less grainy vision, like an old VHS tape, occasional lines of static running down the screen.

She was in a small room, lit by dim electrical lighting installed in the ceiling above. On either side of her were windows, but what was outside them was hidden by blinds. She assumed the same was true for behind her.

The entire room was painted a bright white.

She heard the sounds of voices still, but their conversations were mixed, people outside speaking to each other. The only conversation that made sense to her was the one going on in this very room.

In front of her stood the young girl in her signature long, white dress, brown hair down to her shoulders. Her arms were in front of her, thumbs gently pressing against each other. In a seat next to Lisa's bed, the girl with caramel brown hair, a black cape hiding her green shirt, sat.

Jasmine and Gardenia respectively.

The only other person in the room was a man in a blue uniform, rather heavyset. His belt contained an array of items: a can of something, a nightstick, a gun, et cetera. A Policeman.

Jasmine was speaking to the Policeman, her voice filled with tension and worry. Gardenia sat silent, until a couple seconds later.

"Well hell, if lil' miss Hero ain't awake."

Gardenia smiled nervously, inching closer to the bedside. She took Lisa's hand in her own.

"...Accordin' to witnesses, you protected Volkner. Shielded him. Said the shot was aimed toward his chest: you took it in yers. Lucky lil' gal, you are - the bullet missed all vitals, and just broke a few ribs. Ya should be okay within about... two months, accordin' to the doctors."

"...And what about Volkner?" Mana asked. "Is he alright?"

"Other than the shots in the shoulder?" she asked. "...Well, we don't know."

Gardenia's eyes explored the ground as she spoke.

"...We're still lookin'."

Mana tried to sit up, but found the pain too sharp. She slowly lowered herself down to the bed again.

"No," Mana interrupted. She took a pause, breathing in carefully. "I don't think it c-can... go and search for your friend."

For the good of us all, Mana chirped in with her thoughts.

"...Jasmine, stay here with here, okay? I'll head out and look," Gardenia said.

"No. You go too, Jasmine. I'll be fine. Really."

"...Yer sure?" Gardenia asked.

"I'm sure," Mana responded.

"...Fine," Gardenia murmured. "Alright! Let's head out and find ourselves a Volkner! Again."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He scurried along on all four legs, moving as fast as his body would let him. He was scared, frightened for the life of his best friend, his ONLY friend, anxious for his own safety as well.

He was running blindly. He had no idea where he was heading, allowing his feet to move him where destiny required him to be.

He realized suddenly that it was raining. He stopped mid-dash, and searched the surrounding area for some form of shelter. He was a domesticated boy. He wasn't used to the wilderness. He hated the rain.

He saw a small cave and darted toward it, allowing its dark dank inside to shelter him from the harsh downpour outside.

Water streamed down his cheeks. He couldn't tell if it was rainwater or if they were tears.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Volkner, by now, had numbed himself to the pain. He had no other choice. If he paid attention to it, it would drive him insane: and give his captor that satisfaction. But he couldn't deny he was injured: two clean holes marred his skin, one in each shoulder. This left his arms useless. His captor had purposefully done this, as arms would help him significantly. The back of his head had slammed against pavement, busting it open slightly. He hoped to God no infection occurred. His legs had long since grown numb from the loss of blood to them, as he lay there on a damp floor.

His captor towered over him.

"Well then," he sad. "Now that we're out of the way, and that ***** died, how are you, Body Builder?" Saturn said with a smirk.

"... Go to Hell," Volkner spat.

"Feisty for someone who's in no position to be defiant. Heh."

"... I'd rather die than actually be submissive to you, ****face."

Saturn reached toward his belt, pulling the gun he had used earlier out of its holster. He pointed it toward Volkner.

"Did you know? I'm an expert on human anatomy. I know where to fire so that it won't kill you... but it'll still hurt like hell."

Volkner did not respond.

Saturn's smirk faded. "You ruined something for me, kid. That Valley Windworks heist was supposed to earn me some money. Money I needed at the time."

"...And what do ya know?" Volkner responded. His voice was weak, croaking, but still filled with his usual defiant smugness. "I ended up getting a good five thousand bucks just from getting my *** kicked. Easy, isn't it? You should... try it some time. Heh."

"**** you, kid. You and your partner screwed me up. I never got the cash, because before we left - due to that damn idiot Gomel deciding to stay for the full day to try and milk it - you two got there and ended up calling attention to us."

"The cost of intruding on one's territory is big, you drenched rat," a voice came.

He slowly lifted his head up and looked around him. He had no idea how he hadn't heard them before: he was totally surrounded. A bunch of glowing yellow eyes were in the darkness, and from them, a trio stepped forth.

They were blue creatures. Blue with black fur on their backs, two of them smaller than the one in the center. Each had a tail waving eagerly behind them, tipped in a star-shaped yellow tuft of fur.

"Ike, Drech - kill it."

"Wait!" he shouted, lifting his arms up and waving frantically. "My name is Chuseph. I'm sorry! I didn't know this was your territory!'"

"Ha. Human. Alright, I understand - why are you out here without your human, though?"

"He was... hurt. Another human hurt him! I'm looking for him now - I'm just taking shelter from the rain!"

"That's a surprise to you? Humans do little but hurt. That's the reason you're still alive right now - I pity you."

Chuseph glared fiercely at the leader of the group, who had by now all stepped out of the darkness.

"Heh. Angry? Or just not willing to accept the truth? I suppose it doesn't matter. My name is Croce. I am a Luxray, leader of the Thunderstrike Luxio clan."

"... That isn't the truth! My human is... a bit mean, but I can feel he's good inside. I'd rather die than let you imply otherwise!"

"Is that so?" the Luxio next to Croce said. "I can make that happen if you'd like. I am rather hungry."

"Share some of him with me!" the one to the other side of Croce said. "Don't be a hog, Ike."

"Shut up, Drech, Ike," Croce muttered.

"... Yes, boss."

"Alright. If you want to prove that fact, I have a proposition for you, rat," Croce said, a smugness to his voice.

"... Fine! Anything!"

"We are prideful people. Destroy our pride. If you can beat the three of us - Ike, Drech and Myself - then not only will we accept you as a mighty warrior and as proof that humans aren't all bad, but I'll also send one of our members to help you find your human. We have a powerful sense of smell. The human stench on you is obvious."

"And if I lose?" Chuseph asked.

"Chusph a'la King for dinner tonight."

"... Deal!" Chuseph exclaimed.

Croce spun around. "Come. We will go to the Colosseum!"

"You have a Colosseum?!" Chuseph asked, awestruck.

"... Well, it's just a big empty patch of dirt with some rocks around it, but we're all sort of suckers for the grandeur."

After about five minutes of walking, they reached the Colosseum. As Croce stated, it was simply a big patch of dirt with some rocks around it. The Luxio all gathered around the rocks eagerly, looking into the arena.

Chuseph walked in and stood at the center. The two Luxio surrounded him on his left and right sides, while Croce stood in front of him.

"Mac, come and referee. You know the rules."

A Luxio stepped forward from the crowd. "Yes, sir! The rules are that whatever goes for the Luxio or Luxray in the arena! The challenger is restricted to nonlethal force, while the home team may do what they please."

"Good, Mac, good..."

"Hey!" Chuseph shouted. "That's not fair!"

"Deal with it."

"... Grrr ..."

"Go!" Mac screamed suddenly.

The first thing to happen was with Croce. Ike and Drech did not move - Croce began to lift off the ground, a steady pulsation of a yellowish energy coming from his paws.

"That's the boss and his Magnet Rise," Chuseph heard a voice say.

"Take care of him, Ike, Drech," Croce stated calmly.

Ike and Drech both nodded, lunging toward Chuseph. Both of them were glowing a bright yellow, covered in an electrical aura.
Volt Tackle?! Chuseph thought. Not good! Dodge it!
And so he did. Chuseph leaped as high as he could manage almost immediately, and the two Luxio screeched to a halt: but not in enough time to prevent themselves from headbutting each other. Chuseph landed a couple seconds later a few inches away from them, and almost laughed as they cursed him.

"Damn it, you... you rat! You'll pay for that! Sneaky!"

"Yeah! Sneaky little bastard!"

"Stop copying me, Drech."

"You stop copying me, Ike!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP AND KILL HIM!" Croce bellowed.

"Yes boss!"

Chuseph took both of his paws and placed them in front of him. Electrical energy began to charge in them both, and he smashed them together, forming an orb.

"An Electro Ball attack!" a voice in the crowd said. "Wow, I've never seen one of those!"

Chuseph took the orb in his hand, and made a wild dash toward Ike at his top speed. The two Luxio charged at him in return. Chuseph quickly reached Ike and extended his hand, smashing the orb of electrical energy into the Pokemon's side.

Ike cried out in pain, and was flung to the side. He skidded to a stop a couple feet away, and struggled to stand. He did, though.

Drech saw opportunity.

He rushed toward the apparently defenseless Pikachu and lunged just a few feet away, mouth open, ready to bite.

He was in for a world of pain, though.

Chuseph grinned. The Luxio had fell for it. He smashed his tail as hard as he could manage into Drech's face, also sending him skidding.

Drech didn't get up.

"Just me and you, huh?" Chuseph gloated.

Ike growled. "More than enough, you little rat!"

Chuseph lowered himself to all fours and let loose a charge of electricity: simply to show that he meant business.

Ike ran toward Chuseph, his mouth open to do a bite attack. Chuseph wasn't about to let that happen.

Chuseph ran to the side of Ike, and Ike turned to meet him. The two continued in a cycle like this: running around each other, dodging each other's tackles, until Ike finally managed to keep up, and lodged his teeth firmly into Chuseph's arm.

Chuseph yelped out in pain, but decided to take advantage of the close proximity.

Croce appeared to realize Chuseph's plan. "Ike, get away, qui-"

"... let's see how you like ten thousand volts," Chuseph whispered. He shut his eyes and let loose a massive discharge of electricity, the sound as loud as a thunderbolt. It hit Ike within such close proximity and within such force, that his bite went limp. He lay there unconscious, still attached to Chuseph's arm.

Chuseph shook him loose, and looked at the floating Luxray. His arm hurt, a steady throb of pain pulsating throughout him, but he nodded toward Croce.

"I'm ready when you are, bossman."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

So, here's Chapter 14. So, Chuseph's doing a badass job so far of taking care of some thunder kitties: but how will he fare against the boss? Croce versus Chuseph, next time on...

DRAGON BALL Z

SINNOH STORIES - THE LEGEND OF VOLKNER!

Though probably obvious with the picture, I was formerly known as IanDonyer. Actually got a username closer to my real name, now.

SINNOH STORIES
THE LEGEND OF VOLKNER
Chapter 15: Friends in High Places PT.II

"... I'm very, very surprised," Croce said. "Ike and Drech are our two strongest Luxio. A very pleasant surprise to see them beaten."

Croce's Magnet Rise seemed to be deteriorating in strength; he was slowly falling toward the Earth again, and Chuseph stepped back to avoid this landing occuring right on top of him.

"Pleasant?" Chuseph asked.

"All the more pleasure comes from killing a strong opponent!"

Croce, not even a second after saying this, descended. He hit the ground with a soft thud, and rushed toward Chuseph, flying at the speed of a bullet train.

It was inevitable for Chuseph to be hit. He couldn't possibly have predicted the Luxray's speed, as it was far beyond the speed one would expect for such a slow Pokemon. The force of Croce's hit knocked the wind out of him, sending him flying backward. He was lucky, though, as he managed to snag an odd green rock firmly anchored to the ground, and this stopped him from being sent any further.

"You pitiful rat! Haha! I'll eat like a king tonight!"

Chuseph leaped off the rock and stood there for a few seconds, pondering his next move. He had an array of attacks at his disposal, but he couldn't think of any that would do much to damage the tough hide he had just felt.

"Really, Croce? I'm sure you will. What'll you be having?" he asked.

"You, you stupid thing!"

"For some odd reason, I really do doubt that."

"You'll see, rat!" Croce roared, before lunging forth again. This time, it was done with a little less speed, leaving Chuseph the time to run to the side and dodge.

Croce skidded to a halt and turned toward Chuseph, his tail wagging behind him fiercely. Suddenly, he was enveloped in a bright yellow aura. Pulsations of electricity crackled from it, striking nearby objects, charring them black.

"That's the Boss's Charge!" that helpful voice in the crowd said in awe. "Wowsa, I'd never thought I'd seen him be so desperate!"

Chuseph recognized the attack name. It powered up certain electricity-based moves. Quick on his feet, Chuseph lunged toward that odd green rock and pulling it out of the ground with his good arm. He held it in front of him, waving it. He decided: he would use it as a weapon.

"Wait, Boss, don't-"

But it was too late. Croce dashed forward with that electrical aura spinning wildly around him. He slammed headfirst into Chuseph's Rock-shield, and it snapped right in two. Chuseph was sent tumbling back again, this time flat onto his backside. The world around him was dazed. Blackening.

But soon, his world went light.

"What the hell? What idiot let a Pikachu in the arena with a Thunderstone nearby?" Croce roared.

"... You, boss," the attack-naming voice called out.

"SHUT UP!"

"Yes, boss! I mean- y-..."

Chuseph hit the ground with a soft thud, but found himself able to stand up very easy. "... You call that a hit?"

"I'm... wait, what?" Chuseph exclaimed, taking his arm and lifting it up in front of his face. It was an odd shade of orange now, more stub-like but also full of muscle. He looked down to examine his body: his stomach was a circle of tan in the midst of the orange, and his gut was more defined, muscle poking out (but also mixed in with some fat; he supposed it was a biological protection thing), his feet now tipped in black.

Croce let loose a feral roar and darted toward Chuseph. Chuseph danced aside, dodging the attack and catching Croce by the neck. He exerted a thin pressure, and watched as Croce crumbled to his feet.

"... Ow!" Croce said. "That hurt! Damn it, you motherfriggin' RAT!"

Croce leaped up to his feet again and lunged toward Chuseph. He managed to connect, electrically charged teeth grazing Chuseph's good arm - leaving both of them injured, one a little more so than the other. The wound on his previously good arm crackled.

Perhaps that was what gave Chuseph the idea of the move he would use to finish off Croce.

Chuseph lunged forward, his new body suddenly enveloped in a crackling aura of electrical power. Croce followed this pattern, amazingly enough: he too was surrounded by a less intense aura, and the two of them met halfway, tackling each other with force beyond what the two of them could handle.

Chuseph felt a searing pain rush through his body: he had been hit with extreme force, and returned it with equal intensity, and so he knew a few ribs were broken. His arm bones snapped. He was sent flying backward and skidded uselessly.

The last thing he heard before consciousness slipped away from him was a short conversation.

"Boss! BOSS! You bastard, you'd done beat Boss! I'll kill ya myself!"

Croce's voice.

"... Don't ... touch him ..."

"But Boss, he's-"

"I.. said... don't... touch.. him... nurse.. him..."

"... Why, boss?"

"... He is ... a mighty ... mighty warrior ... worthy of the title ... of Luxray ..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oy," Gardenia said. "Looks like yer finally awake again, huh?"

Mana blinked, throwing the blurred world that she saw aside, trying to make it a clearer image. She paused for a few moments before speaking. "Yeah. Any luck finding Volkner?"

"Unfortunately not," Gardenia replied.

Mana sighed. "Then why are you here?"

Gardenia looked at her for a few moments. "It's night time, gal. It's nice to see ya worried so much, but no one can search durin' the dead of night."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chuseph slowly regained consciousness, looking up at the ceiling of the cave: he didn't see it. Instead, he saw a bright blue light, mixed in with a shade of black.

"... Looks like I have friends in high places," Chuseph muttered.

The light was the skin and fur of Croce. Chuseph recognized it immediately. It was his Magnet Rise skill.

"You're awake. Don't try to move: we have a small search party out for some Sitrus and Cheri berries. Once we find those, you should be able to search for your human. But take it easy," he said.

"...I'm still in one piece, right?" Chuseph asked.

"Yes. We didn't eat any of you. Despite how... tempting it is, now that you're a bit more plump."

...Hope those berries get here soon, Chuseph thought.

And they did. It only took a few more minutes for a small troupe of Luxio to come in with small branches full of berries carried in their mouths.

Chuseph ate them eagerly. He felt his strength return: wounds mended inside of him and outside. He had the strength to sit up.

"... Good," Croce said. "Now then. Meet us at the front of the cave when you feel you're prepared to leave. Take anything you'd like that we've got."

Chuseph shook his head. "No, I'm fine..."

"... Then come with us."

The group headed toward the front of the cave. The trek was barely able to be considered one, taking a grand total of ten minutes.

"Well then, Chuseph," Croce said. "You'll leave here with three things: The pride of knowing you are considered a warrior among warriors, the satisfaction an evolution, and a search party of three, yourself included; Ike, Drech, step forward."

Ike and Drech stepped forward from the crowd, eagerly nodding toward Chuseph, their tails dragging along behind them. Chuseph nodded in response, and leaned forward on his previously broken arms.

"It's that or no deal. I've got all the money you'll ever need - don't be stupid enough to ignore the opportunity."

"...Give me time to think on it."

"Fine. You have a couple days. If me and my associate come back to this place and he is here and not in a hospital, forget it. Don't be stupid."

Saturn smiled, as the two walked away. He was surprised to see the other boy who had been there; the hostage. It was a refreshing thing though, as, when Captain Giggles walked away, Saturn unhooked the gun from his belt...

... and felt a crashing pain in his stomach. He released the gun reflexively, and dropped to his knees.

"Don't act like you don't remember me, Saturn," Cyrus muttered, watching as his Murkrow came back over to his side. "And don't even think about hurting me. I'll bring the proof of my wealth next time... remember: don't be stupid."

Mars giggled. "Rather stupid in the first place, isn't he?"

"Quite."

The two walked away, and Saturn scowled, slowly pulling himself to his feet. "...You better not be lying, Giggles."

"It's Cyrus."

"...Cyrus."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Short chapter. I apologize. *shrug* Next one will be longer, promise.

Last edited by D. Scott; 17th February 2011 at 7:59 PM.

Though probably obvious with the picture, I was formerly known as IanDonyer. Actually got a username closer to my real name, now.